Railway tickets: ‘Overcharging’ protest disrupts traffic

Protesters said railway employees at the ticket booths were selling tickets at Rs30 to Rs100 above the normal prices.

BAHAWALPUR: Scores of passengers protested on Friday against being overcharged for train tickets at the Rahim Yar Khan railway station. They gathered on the railway track to stop any trains from leaving the platform. They said railway employees at the ticket booths were selling tickets at Rs30 to Rs100 above the normal prices. The protesting passengers said that before demonstrating, they had reported the overcharging to senior railway officials. But, they said, they had turned them away. They alleged that the station master had misbehaved with some of the passengers. Station Master Mian Muhammad Anwar Khalid said that the officials had not misbehaved with the passengers. He said some passengers were demanding for their tickets, and were refused. He said he was investigating their claim of being overcharged. He said so far he had not found any evidence against the staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.