The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Commuters sweat it out for suburban, unreserved tickets

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Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Commuters sweat it out for suburban, unreserved tickets

R. Srikanth

Shifting of unreserved ticketing terminal to Moore Market Complex to blame

— Photo: M. Vedhan

LONG WAIT: The crowd at the ticket counters in Moore Market Complex on Monday.

CHENNAI: Long queues of commuters waiting to purchase unreserved tickets for mainline trains and suburban tickets have become the order of the day for the past few weeks at the Moore Market Complex (MMC), located adjacent to the Central Railway Station.

On Monday afternoon, a large number of persons queued up before the 10 counters and even automated ticket vending machines at the complex.

S.Amit, waiting to purchase a ticket to Hyderabad, said that he had been standing in the queue for over 45 minutes and feared that he may miss the train.

Many commuters said that the clubbing of unreserved and suburban ticketing counters recently meant that the suburban commuters had to wait longer. R. Murugan was angry that he had to wait for more than 30 minutes to get a ticket to Perambur whereas the journey time is just 15 minutes. He said by the time he got the ticket, he had missed three trains.

Clerks burdened

The shifting of the unreserved ticketing terminal from the Central Railway station to MMC and the reduction in the number of ticket counters have also left overburdened the booking clerks. A booking clerk said: “We are the ones facing the wrath of the commuters after the shifting of unreserved ticketing terminal from the Station.”

An office-bearer of Southern Railway Mazdoor Union said that previously there were 11 counters, including one for persons with disability, at Central Station and four counters at the suburban terminal at MMC. But after the move to MMC, only 10 counters were in operation.

A spokesperson of Southern Railway said the unreserved ticketing terminal was shifted to MMC as the crowding of the areas was considered a security threat and also hindered the movement of passengers.

She added that that though were 10 counters at the station, only a few of them were operated at any given point of time. At MMC, four counters would be added early next month.

On the hardship faced by suburban passengers, she said this was being resorted to only during lean-traffic hour. During rush hour, three of the 10 counters at MMC were exclusively for suburban commuters, she said.

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