Title - Railways tightens noose around touts

ALLAHABAD: Indian Railways has taken various measures to facilitate access to general as well as Tatkal reservation by common man. More than 2,900 computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) locations have been opened and facility of booking through internet has also been provided.However, during peak rush seasons when the demand outstrips the availability, some cases of black marketing of railway tickets by touts come to notice at the time of surprise inspections and preventive checks conducted at reservation offices. Between April 2012 to June 2012, large numbers of checks were conducted during which 930 unauthorized agents/touts were nabbed.To reduce the scope of cornering of tickets by touts and also to balance the load on the computerized PRS as well as on internet, with effect from July 10, 2012, the timing of opening of reservation of Tatkal tickets has been changed to 10am on the previous day of journey instead of 8am as per earlier provision. These changes have resulted in even distribution of load on PRS and internet and better availability of Tatkal as well as general tickets on the opening days of reservation on internet.This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri Bharatsinh Solanki in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.