December 15, 2006	Friday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 14: The Pakistan Railways has reduced the extra documentation charges on tickets purchased during journey from Rs25 to Rs5. Officials told this reporter on Thursday that it had also been decided that in case of ticketless travelling, the fare would be charged from the last checking station instead of the place from where the train originate.

The last checking stations are: Dadu, Khanewal, Kundian, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Rohri, Sibi and Faisalabad.

“The step has been taken to attract more and more short-journey passengers who have switched to road transport because of the exorbitant extra documentation fare and the practice of charging the passengers from the trains’ originating places,” railway officials said.

Before June 6, 2001, there were no extra documentation charges on all tickets purchased during journey and the authorities decided to impose a sum of Rs25 on passengers found without tickets, they added.

Senior serving and retired railway officers, however, view the move otherwise. “More and more passengers cannot be attracted merely by reducing extra documentation charges. Delayed arrival and departure of trains, lack of facilities like water, especially in passenger trains, will not attract more passengers,” said a former chairman of the railways board.

A retired general manager recalled that before 1995, the last checking stations were considered originating stations for the purpose of checking and issuance of tickets. But rules had to be amended in the wake of rampant corruption on part of senior ticket examiners (STEs) and guards. They used to charge full fare mostly from illiterate passengers and issue them tickets from the last checking station to the train’s terminating station.

For instance, they would charge full fare from a person for a journey between Lahore and Karachi and issue him or her ticket from Rohri to Karachi and pocket the balance, said the GM who wished not to be named.

A senior officer serving in the passenger business unit of the organisation seconded the assertion of the retired chairman and former GM while recalling that an amendment to Section 113 of the Railways Act 1890 was made in 1995. “I still have the copy of the draft that the then member traffic, Mr Hadi Iqbal Husain, wrote in order to check the malpractice by STEs and guards. The draft was incorporated as such in the amended Act approved by parliament. The move is in violation of the Railway Act.”

Titled travelling without pass or ticket or with insufficient pass or ticket or beyond authorised distance, Section 113 (1) of the Railway (Amendment) Act 1995 says: “If a passenger travels in a train without having a proper pass or a proper ticket with him, or, being in or having alighted from a train, fails or refuses to present for examination or to deliver up his pass or ticket immediately on requisition being made therefore under Section 69, he shall be liable to pay, on the demand of any railway servant appointed by the railway administration in this behalf, the excess charge herein after in this section mentioned, in addition to the ordinary single fare from the station from which the train originally started.”

The railways administration issued two notifications in this regard to all the divisional superintendents. The first one (No 2-M&R/8028-R) of Nov 30 reads: “In part modification of this office notification No 2-M&R/8028-R of June 6, 2001, now it has been decided that the extra documentation charges of Rs5 only, for issuing ticket in the train by STE/Guard will be charged instead of Rs25.

“It has also been decided that in case of ticketless travelling, the fare will be charged from the last stopping station instead of originating station.”

The other notification (No 2-M&R/8028-R/VII/PBU), issued the following day, said: “In part modification of this office notification of even number of Nov 30, 2006, the words ‘last stopping stations’ occurring in the second para may be read as ‘last checking stations’ which are Dadu, Khanewal, Kundian, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Rohri, Sibi, Faisalabad, instead of originating stations.”