It’s difficult to convince them, say officials
Staff at the Yeshwantpur railway station collect a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 daily from people who don’t buy platform tickets.
“People lack common sense. Despite (us) creating awareness in all possible ways, commuters choose to be this way. Collecting penalty from them almost feels like an exercise,” Diwakar, Chief Ticket Inspector, informed The Observer.
Railway officials say it’s tough to make people who violate the rules pay penalty.
During Dasara, the railways temporarily increased the platform ticket from Rs. 10 to Rs 20. This has led to the overall penalty collection rising to 70,000 per day.
The railways are finding ways to make things easy for both ticket collectors and visitors to train stations. Commercial Supervisor Umesh Naik said: “I’m proud of people who… buy platform tickets. It’s the people who neglect it that make our lives hard.”
On August 27, 2022, The Observer witnessed an argument between a group of men and a railway official. This group had not purchased platform tickets. The official had a hard time making them understand the rules and regulations of the Indian Railways.
Travellers who rush to platforms to board trains are now constantly stopped by officials to check platform tickets.
People standing in long queues to buy platform tickets paint a picture of order. But officials at the railway station have an opposite story to tell. Every day, fines between Rs 35,000 and Rs 50,000 are collected from people who do not buy platform tickets.
Sunil G said: “I came here to drop my sister off. I didn’t think it was necessary to buy a platform ticket for 10 minutes of my stay at the railway station.”
Navya T, another visitor, shared: “Who wants to stand in long queues to buy a platform ticket? Not me.”
Most people ignore notices displayed with the penalty mentioned. The result of this ignorance comes with a penalty of Rs 250 plus the cost of a platform ticket.
A passenger recounted: “One day, I was running late to board my train to Delhi. The train was about to leave and I was hurrying as fast as I could. All of a sudden, a ticket collector stopped me to check my ticket. I was trying to explain that I had a train to board and had to speed up, but the collector was stubborn.”
On an average, 3,500 platform tickets are sold at Yeshwantpur daily.
The Indian Railways came up with multiple ideas to make people buy platform tickets. One of them was introducing an online portal to buy platform tickets. However, only 2 per cent of people use the online service.
One of the three important stations in Bangalore, Yeshwantpur station falls under the South Western Railway. The busy station was constructed to ease the rush at main station.
