Unreserved travellers in reserved coaches jump
CHENNAI: The number of passengers travelling in reserved coaches of express trains holding unreserved tickets in the state increased two-fold during 2023-24 compared to the previous year. Despite high demand, the railways has not been able to operate additional trains to serve unreserved travellers due to shortage of loco pilots, ticket-checking staff, and other resources, official sources said.
A total of 4.18 lakh passengers were penalised across four railway divisions in Tamil Nadu (excluding Kanniyakumari district, which falls under the Thiruvananthapuram division) during 2023-24, compared to 1.96 lakh the previous year.
Also, the railways is yet to take any decision on capping the sale of unreserved tickets for long distance trains. Currently, it sells about 600 to 700 unreserved tickets in many stations for trains that have two general class coaches. In Chennai and Salem divisions, as many as 400 to 500 passengers, found travelling in reserved coaches of trains heading to northern and northeastern states were deboarded and penalised repeatedly last year.
A section of rail passengers’ representatives has called for additional Antyodaya or MEMU Express trains on short routes such as Chennai-Tiruchy, Chennai-Salem, and Salem-Coimbatore, as well as to northern and northeastern states. However, railway officials stated that any decision on new trains would have to be made only by the railway board.
