Representational image | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Chennai: The Southern Railway has recommended the Railway Board to increase the online ticket booking limit. It has been requested to increase the number of tickets a passenger can book via online to 55 per month. A senior official in the Southern Railway commercial wing told ‘Mathrubhumi’ that they have forwarded a letter to the Railway Board.
Currently, tickets should be reserved to travel in general coaches of long distance trains. A passenger can book only 12 tickets per month via online using the Aadhaar-linked ID at present. As normal services are yet to resume, season ticket distribution has not started.
If more number of tickets are required, one should book from the counters. Ticket reservation is not available in all stations but only in major stations. So, passengers have to depend on travel agencies.
In order to resolve the complaints, it has been recommended to increase the number of tickets that can be booked through an ID to 55 tickets. It is learnt that the Railway will take decision after discussing with the Ministry of Home Affairs on the basis of the recommendation of the Southern Railway.
About 70 percent of the train services conducted by Southern Railway prior to the COVID outbreak are now special trains. Nearly 1 lakh people are travelling in the express trains which was over 3 lakhs before the COVID times. In Chennai, about 5 lakh people are travelling in suburban trains.