Pune: The Indian Railways have put additional burden on visitors at the Pune railway station. The Pune railway division has increased the platform ticket price from Rs 10 to Rs 20 from the intervening night of February 14 and 15, which will be effective only for the Pune Junction.
The decision has come after the Railway Board has given a free hand to the Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) across the country, who can increase the platform ticket rates as per their assessment.
Manoj Kumar Jhawar, Public Relation Officer (PRO), Pune Railway Division, said, “It has been observed that the railway junction gets crowded during vacations and festivals. Visitors have to pay Rs 20 for a platform ticket. The decision will be effective only for four months i.e February 15 to June 15. Moreover, this is applicable only for the Pune junction.”
Railway passenger activists said the people, who come to see off their relatives and friends at the railway station, were in for a shock when they were charged Rs 20 for the platform ticket.
“Those coming to the station to see off or receive friends and relatives or others will now have to pay Rs 20. It is better if they just buy a local train ticket to the nearest station, which costs only Rs 5. As the fare to Shivajinagar, the nearest station, is only Rs 5, why would passengers buy a platform ticket? In fact, they can wait till one hour, if the train is late for more than one hour, they can buy another ticket for any nearest station on Pune-Daund rail route,” said Harsha Shah, President Railway Pravasi Group.
However, many passengers do not know that the platform ticket rate has been increased from February 15. “The increase in the platform ticket this year by the railway is not people-friendly. There are several other ways for the railways to make revenue instead of increasing the platform ticket price,” said Sujay
Patnaik, a railway passenger. Meanwhile, many passengers visit their native place in North India before Holi. The railway is also running several special trains for the Holi season.