Platform ticket price hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 30
Indian Railways has announced to hike the price of platform ticket. According to a fresh notification issued by the national transporter, the platform ticket price has been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 30. A platform ticket is necessary for a person seeking access to the platforms for a time period of two hours. However, a person having a railway ticket for a train on the same day is not required to have a platform ticket.
Also, the fare of local trains has been revised by the national transporter. The minimum fare for travelling in a local train is now Rs 30. Earlier, the minimum price was fixed at Rs 10. This hike comes after the rise in the ticket fares of short-distance passenger trains in February. The national transporter then said that the hike was aimed at discouraging the unnecessary travel in view of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways has termed the hike in platform ticket rates as a temporary measure. It said that the measure has been taken to prevent overcrowding at the stations.
"It is a temporary measure and field activity undertaken by the railway administration in the interest of the safety of passengers and to prevent overcrowding at stations," the Ministry said in a statement.
It said that the measure is in practice for many years and there is nothing new about it.
"Deterring more persons to visit the station, the platform ticket charges are increased from time to time after assessing the ground situation. The power to change charges of platform tickets has been delegated to DRMs due to field management requirements," it added.
Indian Railways is currently operating special trains with strict Covid protocols in place. The services were suspended in March last year due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. The government allowed resumption of train services from June 1 in a graded manner. According to Indian Railways, more than 65 per cent trains are back on track.
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