Southern Railway officials and a section of train commuters seem to have very different views on whether Anytime Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs), installed in several suburban stations, have been of any use in easing congestion at ticket counters.
While many claimed the ATVMs did not contribute much to easing the congestion, Southern Railway officials said that the facilities were a major success. According to data provided by Southern Railway, 39,24,300 tickets were sold from April this year compared to the 37,10 418 sold from April 2012 to March 2013. The Railways earned Rs. 4.75 crore this year.
The ATVMs were inaugurated in 2009 as an alternative to the long queues in ticket counters. The Southern Railway had installed 70 indigenously-developed ATVMs — each costing Rs. 3.50 lakh — at a cost of Rs. 2.45 crore. But commuters are upset that the kiosks are being wasted in the absence of proper maintenance and security.
R. Srinivasan, a resident of Pallavaram, complained that the ATVMs were not working on the Tambaram-Chennai Beach section in Pallavaram, Park Station and Egmore. Others said that in many railway stations, the machines were often not working or ‘switched off.’ The practice was common in Chepauk, Pattabhiram, Thiruvallur, Ambattur, and Velachery, they said. In certain stations, the ATVMs were damaged but had not been repaired.
Commuters also complained that the machines were installed without taking into account the traffic in various stations. T. Gunaseelan, a regular commuter from Ambattur, wondered why two machines were installed in the Chintadripet and Park MRTS railway stations when there was not much of a queue at the manned counters
Railways authorities had posted ‘facilitators’ with smart cards to issue tickets to help commuters but the latter complained that these ‘facilitators’ were often not to be seen at all in several railway stations.
