Buying a ticket for a suburban electric train is a simple task. But at the Tambaram railway station, it has become an ordeal. A shortage of staff at the ticket counters combined with an increase in the number of people availing of the trains' services (due to steep fares in government buses) has resulted in overcrowding at the ticket counters on both the eastern and western sides of the station.
Southern Railway sources said people waiting in endless queues at ticket counters, especially during rush hours on Friday evenings and Monday mornings, was a common sight. With the onset of summer vacations, the number of people travelling to different parts of the city and other far-flung suburban locations such as Arakkonam, Tiruvallur, Gummidipoondi and Kancheepuram too, has increased.
At present, two counters function on the eastern side, and five on the western.
On days considered auspicious, muhurthams for instance, the crowds increase. On Wednesday, the crowd swelled to more than its usual size at ticket counters on both sides. Between 8 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., people waited for as long as 45 minutes to get a ticket, missing between four and five trains to Chennai Beach, and at least a couple towards Chengalpattu. This led to frayed tempers amongst people waiting in the queue.
Added to this, only three of the nine ceiling fans were working near the ticket counters. Further, many impatient men were seen jumping the queue to get to the counter, resulting in a mild scuffle amongst some of the waiting commuters. No policeman however, was seen regulating the crowd.
This problem is not restricted just to Tambaram, but exists at nearly all the suburban stations on the Tambaram – Chennai Beach line, during rush hours on weekdays, Southern Railway sources said.
People preferred to travel by electric train as it saves them both time and money. “I have to spend anywhere between Rs. 7 and Rs. 11 to reach hospitals in Chromepet and Pallavaram by Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses, but a train ticket costs only Rs. 4,” said C. Pushpa.
Southern Railway officials said ticket sales in Tambaram were the highest on the suburban sector. Monthly sales of tickets, which stood at 7.12 lakh in November 2010, went up to 7.5 lakh in November 2011, when the State government hiked bus fares.
In December 2011, it shot up to 8.37 lakh and In January this year, 8.71 lakh tickets were sold in Tambaram. Last month, the figure touched 8.26 lakh. Nearly 95 per cent of the tickets sold are on the suburban sector, while the remaining are to neighbouring and southern districts.
Southern Railway has also been unable to deploy adequate staff at the automatic ticket vending machines in the stations, due to lack of manpower, sources added.
Keywords: Tambaram railway station, southern railway
Also, people are standing in hot sun in East Tambaram, Railway should arrange for proper shelters...
Sell train tickets in post offices and banks, via vending mechines if there is truely shortage of man power in India !
In stations such as Mambalam, Guindy and Chennai Central, these stations are using the service of 'volunteers' or 'freelancers' to issue ticket from ATVM. They recharge the card and get bonus of 5% as their 'wage' to issue tickets. Tambaram booking office could use the same strategy as adding more booking counter is not that easier, as there are infrastructure bottle necks.
In stations such as Mambalam, Guindy and Chennai Central, these stations are using the service of 'volunteers' or 'freelancers' to issue ticket from ATVM. They recharge the card and get bonus of 5% as their 'wage' to issue tickets. Tambaram booking office could use the same strategy as adding more booking counter is not that easier, as there are infrastructure bottle necks.
Its shocking to read this from a "developed" country in Europe. I'm wondering whether time stands still in India???!! 15 years ago, I could see this "standing in queue" turmoil, as I was a student in a nearby college in Tambaram. To see that absolutely nothing has changed and in fact the queue has only become longer is revolting and disgusting to say the least. I would not suggest that automatic machines should be installed - that has proven to be a failure, with the majority not knowing how to use them. Like a commentator said, to speak of lack of man-power in India is itself laughable. The solution is quite simple. OPEN MORE COUNTERS AND APPOINT MORE PEOPLE!! If these guys don't do their work properly replace them immediately without any questions.
The commercial establishments in and around the station may be authorised to sell tickets at crowded places like Mambalam,guindy,pallavaram and Tambaram etc
The problem is not only happening at Tambaram Railway Station, the other stations in the Beach-Tambaram strech such as St.Thomas Mount, Guindy and Park are facing the same problem. The Ticket vending machines are also not functioning regularly in most of the stations. As people are utilizing the train services more due the mass increase in bus fares, the railway authorities have to take necessary steps to fulfill the passenger expectations.
Why Can't railways start accepting sms for train tickets. All one would need to do is send a sms in a format before boarding the suburban train and money would be deducted from the a/c balance and a confirmation sms can act as ticket proof. Railways can have tie up with mobile service providers and give a % commission. Railways needs to understand that these ppl standing in queue are not jobless ppl and standing in railway queues is the most visible loss of our Nation's productivity.
The long wait in queues to buy unreserved tickets is a common scene at most Indian railway stations.A practical solution would be to issue unreserved tickets on-line and via mobile so that the passenger need not spend lion's share of his traveling time in a queue.
Whatever written is 100% correct.At the same time, please write about the ignorance of the educated people too.South Railway provide smart card and it is very simple to use.Why these waiting people cant buy that and use it when ever necessary?.Is Rs.50/- is a matter for them really?.Service is provided and ignorant people(I am talking about the educated office goers) should suffer like this.
It would be good if they can start implementing ticket cards with magnetic strip
where you can put Rs. 100 and keep it valid for 6 months. If at any point somebody
is checking the ticket they should be able to verify its validity and recent charging of it. Technology can be effectively used to address these issues.
and we are talking about bringing metro rail and mono rail to Chennai.
Unfit to maintain whats been in existence for decades, these incompetent governments will bring the change huh? May be if Ms.Jayalalitha or Mr.Karunanidhi would stand once to get the tickets then we will see imported ticket vending machines installed with in 24 hours...........no red tape, no import control, no excise duty problem, no technical expertise problem, no maintenance man power issues......
I am stymied at what happens. In capitalist entrepreneuial set-ups whenever the demand goes up the business people jump in happily to accomodate the excess volume of demand to make money. I distinctly remember that once I was travelling by train from Madras to Delhi and back.One had to rush in to get any breakfast in the canteen in the train. If a passenger delayed he would get nothing to eat. Were not the caterers interested in making more money ? I would think that any sane business man would have pitched in to prepare more iddlis and such other things to cater to the passengers and make money.
Placing an ATVM in the eastern side will reduce the trouble to the commuters. Further the
recharge of ATVM Cards may be made online.
They can enable on-line ticket facility which will reduce manpower cost of railway and time saving for comutters.
Lack of manpower in India! Understandable enough
Senior citizens are suffering very much to stand in a queue for a long time in peak hours at Tambaram Railway station especially in east tambaram as there are only two counters. A separate counter for senior citizen is needed like reservation tickets
Why cannot the railways introduce ticket dispensing machines? The staff at the ticket counters in many cases would not return the exact balance. Many times the counter staff would throw the change within the counter shelter that is not reachable to the ticket buying public. The passengers are in a hurry and miss out in getting back the correct balance change. These counters encourage the staff to cheat the public. The railways must change this primitive system where there is heavy public traffic. Hundred commuters multiplied by 45 minutes wait time amounts to loss of nearly 4500 person minutes (75 person hours).
Train fares are cheaper than bus fares everywhere , because the loss is borne by centre . In a city like Mumbai bus fares are double than Chennai and fares are increased even without public announcements.Basically the situation points to the neglect by railways and reasons like staff shortages are only excuses.Inefficiency is the hallmark of Indian railways and it has worsened because of coalition politics.
Shri Mukul Roy, our revered railway minister, before increasing the staff at the concerned railway stations, has to get OK from Mamataji. Why cannot the local railway authorities employ temporary workers to meet increased demand?
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