In the financial year 2020-21, the Railways has suffered a huge loss on the income from platform tickets. According to information received from RTI, there has been a decline of about 94 percent in revenue from platform ticket sales this time as compared to the last financial year.
New Delhi: Entry in railway stations was restricted due to the increasing infection of Coronavirus. In such a situation, in the financial year 2020-21, the Railways has suffered a huge loss on the income from platform tickets. According to information received from RTI, there has been a decline of about 94 percent in revenue from platform ticket sales this time as compared to the last financial year.
Railway answers RTI query
In response to the RTI query of Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh, the Railways said that in the financial year 2020-21 till February, it had earned Rs 10 crore from platform ticket sales. In the financial year 2019-20, the railways earned Rs 160.87 crore from platform tickets, which was the highest in the last 5 years.
Completely barred entry in many railway zones
The railways had taken steps to decongest the stations even before the announcement of the nationwide lockdown by the Prime Minister in March 2020. Divisional Railway Managers were empowered to decide the rate of platform tickets and whether to ban entry or not. It is worth noting that for most of the year, entry in many railway zones was completely barred and only valid ticket holders were allowed to enter the station.
Platform ticket price hiked
In view of the increasing infection, the price of platform ticket was increased from Rs 10 to Rs 30 to prevent people from coming to the station. It was also decided to increase the price of platform ticket to Rs 50 in certain zones. Railways said that the increase in the price of tickets is temporary and has been done to prevent the epidemic. The revenue from platform tickets has been around Rs 131 crore, although revenue of Rs 139.20 crore came in 2018-19. In 2019-20, it touched Rs 160 crore, but in 2020-21 by February this year, it has come down to Rs 10 crore.
Platform ticket sales resume
The Northern Railway on Saturday announced that the sale of platform tickets will be resumed at eight major stations of Delhi Division. These stations include New Delhi, Delhi Junction, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar Terminal, Meerut City, Ghaziabad, Delhi Sarai Rohilla and Delhi Cantt railway stations.
