*Innovative Indians.....*.. * http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/10/2012031620120316051029411380a69db/Why-buy-Rs-5-platform-ticket-when-journey-ticket-is-Rs-2.html ** *
Why buy Rs 5 platform ticket when journey ticket is Rs 2? A platform ticket is valid for only two hours but a general passenger ticket from B’lore city railway station to Yeshwanthpur costs Rs 2 and is valid for 24 hours By proposing to hike the rate of platform tickets in the Railway Budget, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi may have inadvertently made journey tickets cheaper than platform tickets. For instance, a general passenger ticket from Bangalore city railway station to Yeshwanthpur station costs Rs 2 and is valid for 24 hours but a platform ticket costs Rs 5 and is valid only for two hours. In fact, even before Trivedi proposed to hike platform ticket rates from Rs 3 to Rs 5, many were buying journey tickets instead of platform tickets to save Re 1. The latest platform ticket hike has given them all the more reason to buy a journey ticket. According to a TTE with the South Western Railway, Bangalore City railway station sells about 9,000 platform tickers every day. However, nearly 1,000 people buy minimum fare tickets rather than platform tickets to save money. This trend is not only limited to Bangalore. The TTE, who did not wish to be named, said, a railway station in a two-tier city like Belgaum sells between 700 and 1000 platform tickets every day, but more than 200 persons buy local minimum fare tickets instead of platform tickets. The railway staff and police are forced to be mute spectators as the loophole is exploited because a person buying a journey ticket instead of a platform ticket does not break any rules. Those buying train tickets instead of platform tickets are mostly lovers and college students who bunk classes. If authorities question them, they flash the journey tickets. The TTE said, “Increasing platform ticket rate will not stop this trend but will instead decrease the sale of platform tickets.” -- With best wishes S Chander
