More people at station but fewer platform tickets sold

Despite a substantial increase in passenger traffic and footfall in 2009-2010 compared to 2008-09,the Pune railway station has recorded a decline in the sale of platform tickets and the revenue generated from it in 2009-10.

Reason: Chaotic and mismanaged counters selling platform tickets and the slack checking at exit points,resulting in more and more people not bothering to buy the tickets. While 2008-2009 showed a record sale of 25.54 lakh tickets,in 2009-2010,the sale came down to 23.40 lakh for Pune. The revenue earned also saw a decline,from Rs 76.64 lakh in financial year 2008-09 to Rs 70.22 lakh in 2009-2010. “There is no one manning the exits and entrances most of the time,” said Kunal Pankule,a student. According to a railway official on duty,while there are 16 counters to sell platform tickets,most of the time not more than three or four are functional. This is also true for the rush hour between 3 pm and 7 pm.

“There is a lot of inconvenience,but we cannot do anything about it as we are facing severe staff shortage,” said the official. Even though the number of window shifts have increased from 28 last year to 38 this year,senior divisional commerce manager Alok Badkul said it’s a common sight to see visitors standing in long queues.

Babaan Jagtap,a visitor,said,“It’s a regular problem. We don’t get tickets promptly and end up getting delayed.” Prabhat Sahai,Divisional Railway Manager,Pune,said,“We managed to reduce the waiting time in queues from around 50 minutes to 18 minutes this year. The passenger and visitors traffic has increased considerably over the past year.”