Platform ticket sale re-starts in Allahabad div; to cost Rs 50 now
THIS INCREASE IN PRICE OF THE TICKET IS TEMPORARY AND WILL BE EFFECTIVE TILL JUNE 30, OFFICIALS SAID
PRAYAGRAJ: Railway authorities have restarted the sale of platform tickets at railway stations. However, the cost of each ticket has now been raised five times, when compared to its cost before the pandemic struck. Its sale was suspended following the outbreak of the pandemic.
This increase in price of the ticket is temporary and will be effective till June 30, officials said.
It is after a gap of around 11 months that the sale of platform tickets began again at seven prominent stations of Allahabad Division of North Central Railways (NCR) including Prayagraj Junction and Prayagraj Chheoki station besides Kanpur Central, Mirzapur, Tundla, and Aligarh Railway Stations, albeit at the hiked rates, they added.
“Following Railway Board directives, the Allahabad division too has increased the price of platform tickets to reduce congestion at the station,” said Amit Singh, public relations officer, Prayagraj division.
One has to understand that the corona crisis is not over yet and so it is important to keep the crowd under control. The increased rates of the platform will remain in force till June 30, he added.
Ajeet Kumar Singh, chief public relations officer, NCR, said, “There have been some reports in the media regarding the price rise of platform tickets, but this hike is a temporary measure and is a field activity undertaken by the railway administration in the interest of the safety of passengers and to prevent overcrowding at stations.”
He said that for discouraging more persons from visiting stations, the platform ticket charges have been increased from time to time after assessing the ground situation. This is in practice for many years and is used occasionally as a shortterm crowd-control measure, he maintained.
Considering the upsurge of Covid cases in few states, Indian Railways is discouraging people from unnecessarily crowding platforms. Rush at the platforms during the pandemic also needs to be regulated. The exercise is in public interest, he added.
The Railway Board had also recently issued a statement on the hike. It had said that in March 2020, many divisions within the Railways enhanced the platform ticket price at various stations to avoid crowding. Later, this was revoked over a period of time for example Central Zone and Eastern central Zone to name a few. During festivals like Chhathh, Diwali or during melas, etc, as well in different zones it is often temporarily increased and later rolled back, it was explained.