NEW DELHI: The Railway’s decision to limit the passenger waiting list to 25 per cent of the capacity of each class has been flagged by reservation supervisors, ticket booking clerks and some senior commercial officers as uneconomical for the railways and inconvenient for travellers.The ministry, however, has justified the decision, saying less than one-fourth of the total number of waiting passengers get confirmed berths on an average and the 25 per cent cap has been placed in view of that.”The decision was made after meticulously studying the waiting list confirmation pattern,” said Dilip Kumar the Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board. He highlighted that earlier, there was an allegation that the Railways allowed a lot of passengers to book berths in the waiting category which led to crowding in trains.”It was also alleged that the Railways earned money on ticket cancellation.”Refuting the charge, Kumar stressed the Railways was more concerned about passenger comfort than monetary benefits.The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) implemented the 25 per cent cap decision on June 16 for trains with reservation facilities.This come around two months after the ministry, through a circular, conveyed its decision on the matter to all principal chief commercial managers and the CRIS managing director.The April 17 circular stated, “The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that the maximum current waiting list limit will be revised to 25 per cent of the redefined capacity of each class available at originating as well as roadside stations.”
Source link
