Amid reports of a price hike of platform tickets, railway ministry issued a clarification on Friday. The increase in price of the platform ticket is a "temporary measure" the ministry said. "It is a field activity undertaken by railway administration in the interest of safety of passengers and to prevent overcrowding at stations," it further added. The platform ticket price has been increased from ₹10 to ₹30, according to media reports.
"Deterring more persons to visit station, the platform ticket charges are increased from time to time after assessing ground situation. This is in practice for many years and is used occasionally as a short term crowd control measure," the ministry said.
In the wake of the recent spike in the COVID-19 cases in few states, Indian Railways decided to hike the platform tickets to avoid "unnecessary crowding at the platforms."
"Rush at the platforms during pandemic situation also needs to be regulated. The exercise is in public interest only," the railway ministry added.
discouraging people from unnecessary crowding at the platforms .Rush at the platforms during pandemic situation also needs to be regulated. T
Earlier, the Central Railway had increased the price of platform tickets at some key stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to avoid over-crowding during the upcoming summer season in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A platform ticket now costs ₹50 instead of the previous rate of ₹10 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane, Kalyan, Panvel and Bhiwandi Road stations, CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said, news agency PTI had reported.
In February, the Railways had announced the "slight hike" in the ticket fares of short-distance passenger trains to discourage people from unnecessary travel.
"In March 2020, many divisions in Railways enhanced the platform ticket price at various stations to avoid crowding. Later, this was revoked over a period of time for example Central Zone, ECR to name a few," the ministry said.
"During festivals like Chathh, Diwali or Melas etc as well in different zones it is often temporarily increased and later on rolled back," it added.
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