IIT Bhubaneswar researchers develop App to simplify seat swap

Bhubaneswar: A recent innovation from IIT Bhubaneswar aims to simplify train travel in India.

A team from IIT Bhubaneswar consisting of students, Rustam Kumar and Sangam Mishra, and faculty members Dr. Srikant Gollapudi and Dr. Srinivas Pinisetty, has developed Simply-Swap—a mobile and web application designed to facilitate seat swapping among train passengers.

Many a times train travelers belonging to the same family face the challenge of reservation seats located in different coaches. Traditionally, such passengers seek seat swaps through direct requests to fellow travelers but meet with limited success.

Based on his personal experience with seat swapping requests, Dr. Srikant Gollapudi conceptualized an app that could facilitate seat swapping among train passengers with negligible effort. The application developed by Rustam and Sangam with guidance from Dr. Srikant and Dr. Srinivas, allows registered users to post seat swapping requests by entering their current seat details, desired seat or coach, and train information.

Any other user traveling on the same train with a seat reservation in the specified coach can view the request and opt to accept the swap. Once a match is found, the app facilitates the swapping process, reducing the stress of manual coordination.

The IIT Bhubaneswar team believes Simply-Swap could significantly enhance passenger convenience and satisfaction, if the app is integrated into Indian Railways’ services. The innovative development aligns with the broader vision of leveraging technology to improve travel experience.

The team is currently in talks with start-ups and venture capitalists for commercialization and have been receiving good interest.