Pune: After picture of platform ticket costing Rs 50 goes viral, CR clarifies, ‘price increased to prevent crowding’

Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav also issued a comment saying divisional railway managers were instructed to increase the cost of platform ticket at a local level so as to avoid crowding at stations. “This decision will be reviewed after the pandemic,” Yadav reportedly told ANI.

Social media was abuzz on Monday and Tuesday over the revision in cost after some well-known Twitter users, including Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, posted a picture of the ticket and compared it to the cost of the ticket during UPA rule.
https://twitter.com/digvijaya_28/status/1295516386161090565
Others linked it to the “privatisation’ of the Indian Railways. A private firm known as BVG is managing Pune railway station since 2019 after Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) took over and appointed private agencies for station management. It was the first railway station in India to be thus handed over to a private entity for management.

“These tickets are being issued only to those who accompany the elderly, ill people, and others needing assistance. In the past too, the railway administration has made a special decision to increase the price or restrict the issuance of platform ticket,” read a statement issued by the CR.

Harsha Shah, an activist, said although it was true that the cost of the platform ticket had been increased in March 2020 to prevent crowding, the notification was only meant for 20 days. “After April 18, they did not renew the notification but continue to charge Rs 50. This is wrong. Since special trains are not being operated, the cost should also come down,” Shah said.