Passengers seek rule change for seamless rail travel

Chennai: City's suburban rail network passengers have urged Southern Railway to amend ticketing rules to allow them to board long-distance trains to travel to intermediate boarding stations using the same reserved ticket."Two weeks ago, I booked a train to Bengaluru and selected Tiruvallur as my boarding point. But when I travelled by suburban train to Tiruvallur, I was fined 500. The ticket collector said Express tickets cannot be used in suburban trains," said an Avadi resident.At present, passengers arriving in Chennai by long-distance trains on reserved tickets are allowed to continue their journey on suburban trains from stations such as Arakkonam, Tiruvallur, Tambaram and Chengalpet without purchasing an additional ticket. However, this rule is not available in the reverse direction.Passengers who book reserved tickets from Chennai to other cities, but choose to board the train at intermediate stations, are required to buy a separate suburban ticket to reach their boarding point. Railway users and members of advisory bodies have called for parity in rules. K Bhaskar, a former Divisional Railway Users' Consultative Committee member, said recent policy changes show that such reforms are possible. "Southern Railway now allows passengers to upgrade their class and change boarding points up to 30 minutes before departure. Similarly, they should allow passengers to use suburban trains to reach their boarding station," he said.Responding to the demand, chief public relations officer Senthamil Selvan said the issue would be examined. "A circular already allows suburban travel when passengers return to their destination. Since this is a new request, a meeting will be organized and a decision will be taken," he said.
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