Kozhikode :

The first private reservation centre ‘yatri ticket suvidha kendra’ (YTSK) of the Railways in the state, has been receiving a good response from the passengers. A good number of passengers who have visited the centre to buy Janasadharan tickets approached the centre asking inquiries about the available services at the centre.

The union government introduced the concept of YTSK to curb black marketing in the sale of railway tickets.

The centre, which is the second YTSK centre under the southern railways, will help the passengers to book and cancel all the tickets including tatkal tickets. Passengers can book AC tatkal tickets from 10.30am and non-AC from 11.30am onwards. The private reservation centre has four counters and a special counter for inquiry. The centre also has seating facilities for the passengers approaching for booking.

In case of cancellation, 50 % of the charge will be deducted and remaining amount will be refunded to the given bank account.

C E Chakkunny, working chairman, Confederation of All India Rail Users’ Association said that though the private reservation counter is helpful for passengers, the service charge of Rs 30 fixed to book sleeper class and Rs 40 for all other classes is actually high. “The railway should reduce the service charge as the existing service charged fixed to book tickets from the private reservation centres cannot be afforded by passengers. The centre is a blessing in disguise as only one counter in the fourth platform is working and another one is not operational which is causing problems to passengers during peak hours. The counters in the first platform are insufficient to meet the growing demands of passengers during the peak hours,” he said. “The railway should put up more counters and make the inactive counters functional to help the passengers to book the tickets without remitting service fee,” he said.

N Lekha, a passenger said that the centre is a blessing as the passengers can book tickets till late night and even on Sunday afternoons. “We can avoid standing in long queues at the railway station during peak hours,” she said.

Meanwhile, K K Vinod Kumar, owner of Prapanjam Tours and Travels, said that around 300 people booked their ticket on the first day. “Since the centre’s opening on Friday, on the first day the centre saw people approaching for inquiry purpose.

All the counters will be made fully functional once the number of passengers increases in the coming days. The advantage is that the railway passengers who reach the station after 7 pm can easily make advanced booking as

The centre is open till 10pm from Monday to Saturday and on Sunday, it will function from 8.30am to 8pm. The railway closes its centre at 2 pm on Sunday,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / September 27th, 2015