More railway ticket counters for City, State

More railway ticket counters for City, State
N V Vijayakumar, Bangalore, Dec 27, DHNS:

If long queues and inordinate delays deter you from taking that railway journey, here’s some good news. Bangalore Division of South Western Railway has decided to open more Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sewaks (JTBS) in and around Bangalore.

Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sewaks are ticket counters where passengers can collect their unreserved tickets.

According to Divisional Manager Govind Pandey, South Western Railway invited application for these counters in the State in the beginning of 2009. “Three bidders approached us to start the counters and we gave permission for two. JTBS located at Rajajinagar started its operation six months back and the other in BTM Layout had a few logistical bottlenecks and will start its operation soon,” he said.

According to the Railway official, these centres will reduce the average waiting time at the unreserved ticket counters at important stations. Passengers will have to pay only Rs one extra for a ticket while purchasing ticket at these centres. “It is very early to say about passengers’ response to these centres. But any way this will help reduce congestion in our City and Cantonment Railway stations,” Pandey said.

When contacted, Rajajinagar JTBS proprietor Vanisree said that they are receiving 150 to 200 bookings on a daily basis. “This counter really helps passengers to book unreserved tickets for various destination. Even though I-ticketing and e-ticketing exist there for confirmed ticket bookings, JTBS helps passengers get their unreserved ticket without much hiccups,” said Vanisree.

Expansion project
South Western Railway already advertised for opening 118 more Jansadharan centres across the State. “We have been receiving good response this time and after scrutinising the applications we will give permission for new centres within a month. Our aim is to avoid all inordinate delay and inconvenience for our passengers,” adds Pandey.

New JTBS centres will come up around Bangalore City, Bangalore Cantonment, Bangalore East, Banaswadi, Krishnarajapuram, Whitefield, Kengeri, Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya, Pandavapura, Srirangapatna, Malur, Tyakal, Bangarpet Jn., Kuppam, Chikbanawar, Kyatasandra, Tumkur , Hebbal, Banaswadi, Anekal, Hosur, Dharmapuri, Yelahanka, Doddaballapur, Gauribidanur, Chikkaballapur and Devanahalli railway stations.