Crackdown on touts, unauthorised agencies

Want to make a train journey during these summer holidays but are disappointed by looking at the long waiting list?

Want to make a train journey during these summer holidays but are disappointed by looking at the long waiting list?

During summer vacations, securing a confirmed seat in trains is a task in itself. However, to make sure that your chances of getting a confirmed ticket becomes brighter, the vigilance department of northern railways has started cracking down on touts and unauthorised ticketing agencies who book tickets in bulk and then black market them.

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To keep a check on the problem, the vigilance department has designed a special software, which will restrict the reservation clerk to book just 20 tickets in the first half-an-hour as soon as the ticket reservation window opens at 8am.

“There were complaints that touts book most of the tickets, including tatkal tickets, through different identification cards as soon as the reservation window opens. We have got a special software designed through which the number of reservations in the first half- an-hour have been restricted to 20,” said a senior railway official.

The railways have also formed special teams along with the railway protection force (RPF) to nab touts at the ticketing counters. During summers, the railways see a rise of 30 per cent in its passenger traffic, which leads to long waiting lists. “We are already overburdened and cannot increase the number of trains. Cracking down on touts will little respite to the passengers,” the officer added.