A steep hike in platform tickets might seem like a revenue-earning step for the Railways, but if this year has been chosen to try the huge hike for maintenance purposes, it somehow affirms that the increase has been brought only for two months in principle. It’s also an indication on the part of the Railways that facilities are thus going to be improved formally.
The reasons given behind this planned increase are to lessen the crowd on platforms in view of the Covid-19 restrictions. Can a sum of Rs 50 to enter a railway platform be easily acceptable to the visitors who habitually skip buying the platform ticket?
If there is a will, there is a way. What some have started to follow is relatively mind-boggling. They seemed to have developed a habit of buying a ticket for the train’s first stoppage because a short distance ticket will definitely cost lesser than the platform ticket. Thus, an individual can escape paying the hefty payment. It depends on the individual whether the person boards the train or not. But the person can easily walk into the platform without buying the Rs 50-platform ticket and the Railways has no solution for this delicate stance.
Here, the phrase ‘Tu daal daal mein paat paat’ brings its primacy. When people started crying hoarse on the fivefold increase in platform ticket, the Railways clarified that this increase was temporary. It has been implemented to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. The increase has not been implemented for all railway stations, but only for those platforms that are usually crowded (प्लेटफार्म टिकटों के दाम में पांच गुने तक की बढ़ोतरी पर जब लोगों ने हल्ला मचाना शुरू किया था, तब रेल मंत्रालय ने बीते शुक्रवार को सफाई दी थी। मंत्रालय ने कहा था कि प्लेटफॉर्म टिकट की कीमतों में की गई बढ़ोतरी अस्थाई है। इसे कोरोना के संक्रमण को रोकने के लिए लागू किया गया है। मंत्रालय ने यह भी कहा था कि प्लेटफॉर्म टिकट की कीमत सभी स्टेशनों पर नहीं बढ़ाई गई है, बल्कि सिर्फ उन स्टेशनों पर बढ़ी है, जहां पर भीड़-भाड़ अधिक होती है।).