In a bid to discourage gathering of large crowds in view of the coronavirus, the Pune division of the Central Railway has hiked the platform ticket charges from Rs 10 to Rs 50, officials said on Tuesday.
“#COVID19 preventive measures. Central Railway on its Mumbai, Pune, Bhusaval, and Solapur divisions increased the platform ticket from Rs 10 to Rs 50 till further advice,” tweeted Central Railway.
Asserting that platform tickets charges have been increased at number of stations to ensure crowd control in view of the coronavirus problem, a senior official said,”it is being done at the local level”.
In March 2015, the railways delegated the power to Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) to increase the rate of platform tickets beyond Rs 10 to regulate rush at platforms in specific conditions.
The government has already taken a number of steps to detect and prevent the spread of coronavirus, which is showing an upward trend in the country and has claimed three lives so far.