Saturday, November 14, 2015

Last-minute reservation receive thumbs up from rail users in Trichy TNN | Nov 14, 2015, 05.34 AM IST

TRICHY: The passengers and rail users' association members of the Trichy railway division have given a thumbs up to the new system of booking tickets 30 minutes prior to the departure of trains.

The system that came into effect from Thursday has received good response from among travelers. Rail users commented that the system will put an end to illegal ticketing activities.

Several passengers have begun checking at the counters for last-minute booking. Paradamanan N, a passenger booking the Uzhavan Express running from Thanjavur to Chennai Egmore, booked tickets after he found that seats were vacant. "The move by the Railways is welcome as all this time, the reservation charts were being released three hours before the journey, which was final and the passenger had to go to the ticket examiner to check for vacancies," he said.

According to A Giri, vice president of Thanjavur District Rail Users Association, "The change in the reservation system will cut the touts and the illegal ticketing activities that are currently prevailing in the railways."

Earlier, whenever a passenger boarded the train on a Waiting List or Reservation Against Cancellation ticket, the train ticket examiner (TTE) checked for the tickets and told the passenger if a vacancy was available. The TTE's word was final in allotting space to the passengers, with some of the passengers even bribing the TTE for seats.

Giri added that the technology has to be brought in for filling up vacancies by giving TTEs hand-held devices that can show the availability of seats in real time.

All the day trains that go from the city during weekdays usually run with high vacancy and the passengers can now opt for seats even at the last moment rather than take the chance of unreserved seats, said Jaganath P, secretary of Trichy Rail Air Passengers Association.

He also said that the recent move of the Railways to bring in more revenue by using the available resources should be welcomed.

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