2 out of 10 ticket vending machines functional at Ludhiana railway station

LUDHIANA: Most of the 10 automatic

ticket vending machines

installed recently at the

Ludhiana railway station

have remained non-functional due to regular technical snags posing difficulties to the commuters. The machines were installed by the northern railway authorities in the past few months to ease the huge rush at the station during the peak festival season.

During a surprise visit to the booking counters by TOI, it was found that out of 10 machines only two were functioning. Moreover, the working machines were also serving the purpose as most of the passengers did not know how to use them.

A senior railway official on conditions of requesting anonymity claimed that the functioning of the ticket vending machines is too complicated. So it is difficult for the less educated people to operate them.

“Many a time, passengers try to use the machines to get their rail tickets booked but fail due to lack of awareness about the functions. In some cases, passengers have failed to get their tickets booked even after depositing required amount of money in the machines just because they could not feed the data regarding their travel properly,” he said.

Sources claimed even as the railway department started this service with a view to de-congest the current ticket windows but it could not serve its purpose. “They have become the show-piece for the passengers,” they claimed.

However, station superintendent Ashok Salaria said, “Indian railway has started this service to overcome the problem of huge rush and remained successful at some level. Retired officials from the rail department have been employed to look after these machines, help the commuters to get their required tickets booked. Some technical errors, that have been reported, will be rectified by the concerned officials on a priority basis.”


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