RAWALPINDI: Passengers travelling home for Eidul Fitr swarmed railway stations and bus terminals, with many complaining about overcharging and lack of transport for their journeys.

However, Pakistan Railways did not run a special Eid train from Rawalpindi to Karachi and Lahore, though five Eid trains travelled from Karachi to Peshawar, Quetta to Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi to Multan and to other destinations. There was only one train from Rawalpindi to Multan, which ran on Sunday.

A senior Railways official told Dawn the Rawalpindi divisional office requested additional coaches for trains from Rawalpindi to Karachi, Quetta and Lahore, but Railways headquarters turned down the request.

“People had to travel on trains without seats, and had to travel from Rawalpindi to Karachi standing or sitting on the floor of the bogies,” he said. The official said the local office was helpless.

He added that the online ticketing system had also developed frequent faults in the last two weeks, which made it difficult for passengers to book their seats a week ago. Tickets were provided to passengers, but many refused to travel and asked to be refunded after they saw how crowded the trains were.

“I purchased a ticket from a family that wanted to travel to Lahore by train, but changed their minds after seeing the crowd on the train. If they return the ticket, the railways will deduct 25pc and [refund them] after Eid. They sold me the ticket, as I had to go to Gujrat with friends,” Mohammad Akram, a passenger at the Rawalpindi Railways Station, said.

“Some officials book the coaches and later sell the tickets at high prices. The prices of the seats are higher at most trains originating from Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, who was travelling to Lahore.

He said all the seats for Monday were booked a week ago, but Sunday morning two people were selling tickets outside the ticket booth at the train station.

“Like others, I arrived in the morning to try my luck at getting a ticket, and I bought the ticket for an extra Rs100,” he said.

When contacted, Pakistan Railways Divisional Superintendent Sahibzada Imtiaz said extra coaches had been added to the regular trains to accommodate passengers during Eid, and the short distance special Eid train from Rawalpindi to Multan departed on Sunday.

“Four trains depart for Lahore from Rawalpindi and Islamabad daily, and we installed an additional coach to every train to cater to the rush,” he said.

He added that an additional coach was attached to the Green Line Train from Rawalpindi to Karachi for the last three days, and “each coach had the capacity to accommodate more than 54 passengers”.

Mr Imtiaz said the Railways did not increase fares during Eid and did not allow anyone to fleece passengers. He said it was not possible to sell tickets in black at the railway station, because the area is monitored.

At the Pirwadhai, Pirwadhai Mor, Soan and Faizabad bus terminals, where passengers gathered to travel to the three provinces and Azad Kashmir, there were complaints of overcharging.

“We had to pay an extra Rs500 to book seats for a family of five on a bus to Rahim Yar Khan. The transporter said the payment was Eidi, not a bribe or extra fare,” Mohammad Abdullah said at the Pirwadhai bus terminal.

RTA Secretary Khalid Yamin Satti said special squads had been deployed at Pirwadhai, Pirwadhai Mor and Soan to stop overcharging, and had penalised more than 35 transporters in the garrison city.

“This year there were fewer complaints. The squads started working from June 21, and the operation to check transporters will continue until Sunday night,” he said.

ITP continues campaign against overcharging, overloading on Eid

The Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) continued its campaign against overcharging and overloading after complaints regarding inter-city public transporters before Eid.

A large number of transporters were fined over the last three days, and the traffic police also recovered the overcharged amount and returned it to passengers on the spot.

A number of Islamabad residents travel to their native towns to celebrate Eid, which makes it difficult for many to get seats on public transport. Inter-city transporters, meanwhile, take advantage of the situation to overcharge passengers and overload vehicles.

According to a statement from the ITP, there were complaints that transporters were overcharging passengers travelling for Eid.

The statement said transporters were increasing their fares by Rs200 to Rs300 for each passenger, and the overcharged sum was recovered. Transporters were also fined for overloading, and warned that their vehicles would be impounded if they continued committing violations.

Shams Niazi, a transporter, told Dawn the police should be more understanding of the problems transporters face when taking action against them.

“On Eid, although we get a large number of passengers from different areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and AJK, we do not get passengers while returning to Islamabad,” he said.

“Vehicle helpers and van stand managers also demand more payment on Eid, and we have to pay police officials more while travelling to different cities. By charging Rs200 more, we are able to adjust the extra expenses,” he said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) (SSP) Malik Matloob said it was decided that overloading would not be tolerated on Eid because it is a major cause of accidents.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2017