‘Railways to issue duplicate tickets’

LAHORE: Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and CEO Javed Anwar inaugurated issuance of duplicate ticket generation system at Pakistan Railways headquarters here Monday. This passenger facility is first of its kind in the history of Railways. Pakistan Railways will now issue duplicate tickets to facilitate its passengers.

Earlier, the minister received numerous complaints regarding non-issuance of tickets and complicated refund mechanism in case of loss of ticket. As per rules established in Pakistan Railways, train traveller’s ticket was considered a currency note which cannot be replaced in case of loss, it is also mentioned in terms and conditions printed on the back of ticket.

According to a press release, a young journalist had raised the issue by hinting on this flaw through a video uploaded on social media and the minister not only took immediate notice of the problem but also constituted an internal committee, including officers from traffic, commercial and Information Technology department to address the issue.

From now, on purchasing train ticket, the passenger would receive a detailed text message mentioning his seat number, train, and time. In case of loss of ticket, he can send his CNIC number on railways special number 9117 and get an SMS that would be considered his duplicate ticket, passenger can show the same to conductor guard who after verifying that the seat was reserved against same CNIC and no amount was refunded against it, would allow the passenger to travel on 10 percent deduction only.Pakistan Railways passenger traffic has surged up to 200 million.