Railway Board relaxes season ticket norm

Shelly Srivastava, director of passenger marketing, RB had issued an order last month advising GMs to decide on exemptions beyond 150 km up to 160 km for season tickets. Exemptions beyond 150 km were issued only to those sections where they were being issued prior to 1951. In Chennai Railway Division, an exemption has been given only from Chennai to Tirupati.

If the GM allows an exemption on Chennai-Salem and Chennai-Trichy route, commuters would be able to get passes from the city to Gudiyatham, Tiruvallur to Vaniyambadi and Chennai Egmore to Villupuram. It would help commuters break journey to cut cost. For instance, a commuter travelling to Puducherry from Chennai could disembark at Villupuram and take a bus.

Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee member K Baskar said, “The 10 km rise might sound little but has its benefits. The GM should allow exemption wherever possible. Now, it takes us more than five hours to reach Vaniyambadi from Tiruvallur, whereas, I could reach the place by train in less than three hours at a very low cost.”

The same would apply to commute on Chennai Egmore-Villupuram route. Till now, commuters were only able to avail season pass till Tindivanam, which is 122km from Egmore and the next major station ahead of Villupuram and take a bus to Villupuram to cut cost.