Title - Go trainspotting, Koderma style

Hazaribagh : "Passengers" at Koderma station are making the most of the latest railway offer ' book a train ticket, don't travel and save a few pennies. Starting May 1, the cash-strapped railways raised the cost of the platform ticket from Rs 3 to Rs 5. But in Koderma, those who drop in at the station to receive or see off their dear ones have worked out their math to dodge the hike. Thanks to Indian Railways of the fare-freeze fame, the ticket charges to four destinations, all within 25km, from Koderma are either Rs 2 or Rs 3. No wonder, visitors to the station are simply buying tickets to the four nearest halts, namely Gajhandi, Sarmatand, Hirodih and Dilwa, rather than coughing up more on platform tickets. Mohan Yadav, who stays near Purnima Talkies in Koderma did the same when he had come to the station to send off a relative this morning. Asked whether he purchased a platform ticket, he smiled, saying, "Why buy a platform ticket when the fare to the nearest station is cheaper?" Mohammad Shamshad Yusuf, a resident of Hazaribagh, went to receive a few relatives from Koderma station with two hours in hand. "I purchased a ticket to Gajhandi for Rs 2 and got the licence to stay inside the station for the next 24 hours," he added. Railway sources said that tickets to the four destinations were available on only three passenger trains, which halt daily at the small stations. The surge in ticket sales has not posed any problem for those actually willing to visit the four places, as it is easy to pile into coaches for a short trip. But Koderma station master Awadhesh Singh admitted there was a 50 per cent dip in the sale of platform ticket, an unsung hero in terms of garnering rail revenues. He said that 252 tickets to Gajhandi were sold from May 1 to 3, though earlier barely around 50 passengers purchased tickets daily. Similarly, Hirodih (156), Dilwa (57) and Sarmatand (101) registered nearly twice the normal figures of sales. When asked, Singh told The Telegraph: "If fares to the nearest stations are cheaper, why would anyone purchase platform tickets?" Also, train tickets are valid for 24 hours while platform ticket let one be at the station for not over two hours, he added.