Agencies
New Delhi, March 05:
The Indian Railways announced a fair hike for platform tickets across India but termed it a ‘temporary’ measure to prevent overcrowding at stations.
“It is a temporary measure and field activity undertaken by the railway administration in the interest of the safety of passengers and to prevent overcrowding at stations,” the railways said in a statement.
Here is all you need to know about the fair hike:
1. The decision was taken by the Ministry of Railways “in the interest of the safety of passengers”. Amid the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the fair hike aims to achieve its target of reducing the number of people at stations. The decision would help ensure social distancing and Covid-appropriate behaviour.
2. A notification in this regard was issued by the ministry, in which it said that regulation and controlling of the crowd at stations is the responsibility of the Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs).
3. “Deterring more persons to visit the station, the platform ticket charges are increased from time to time after assessing the ground situation. The power to change charges of platform tickets has been delegated to DRMs due to field management requirements,” the notification read.
4. The ministry said that there was nothing new about the measure as it is in practice for many years and is used occasionally as a short-term crowd control measure. In February too, the ministry had hiked the ticket fares of short-distance passenger trains to discourage people from unnecessary travel.
5. The platform ticket price has been increased from Rs10 to Rs30.
