From April 1 onwards, passengers on Central Railway (CR) will have to stand in queues to buy coupon booklets, as the authorities have decided to scrap the practice of issuing booklets without having to wait in the line.
According to CR authorities, the said practice was causing a huge rift between the booking staff and passengers.
The announcement issued by the CR on Saturday read, “Presently, coupon booklets are sold without queue, directly from the booking counters. This practice is in vogue at all the booking counters in suburban stations of Mumbai Division on CR and perhaps, was implemented in earlier stages of coupons for its promotion. But now, it has become one of the reasons of increasing conflicts between the booking staff and the passengers wanting to buy coupon booklets (sic).”
Presently, passengers can buy tickets at windows, through coupon validating machines (CVMs) and automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs). However, with the change in policy, buying tickets through ATVMs will be the only option left for passengers wanting to avoid serpentine queues.
According to CR sources, the move has been aimed at promoting the ATVM, which has been touted as the most convenient method to procure suburban tickets.
On an average, around one lakh coupons are validated daily. Looking at the figures in 2010-11, 82 per cent tickets were sold through windows, 12 per cent through CVM booklets and six per cent through ATVMs. Close to 39 lakh passengers travel on the CR network.
Earlier in January, the railway board had decided to phase coupons out so that passengers could opt for ATVMs.
However, due to its popularity, CR and Western Railway had appealed to the board to keep the CVM for the benefit of passengers. Subsequent-ly, the board decided to extend it for a period of one year.