Title - Touts hog the Tatkal pie, railways says

MANGALORE: The going is tough for train passengers wanting to lay their hands on railway ticket under tatkal scheme in Mangalore. A section of passengers allege that their efforts to get a ticket under tatkal come to naught as touts monopolize reservation counters to block tickets and sell it at a premium for those willing to pay for it. , thereby denying genuine passengers a shot at this ticketing arrangement.The three reservation counters at Mangalore Central Railway station receive around 100 applications for tickets under tatkal scheme each day. The demand for tatkal train tickets for Matsyagandha Express connecting Mangalore to Mumbai is the highest.Narendra Nayak, a passenger, who recently visited the reservation counter, situated in the commercial building of Mangalore City Corporation alleged that when he went to book a ticket from Mangalore to Bangalore around 8am, he found a group of touts having occupied chairs in front of the reservation counter and one person was carrying more than a dozen tatkal application forms and ID cards."There is huge racket in the city involving people who are getting most of the tatkal tickets," he said, adding railway authorities should take action against people involved in this racket and provide better service for passengers.Another passenger Amar Twayna, a final year medical lab technology student who frequently travels to Mumba,i says getting tickets under tatkal was difficult for a few months because of some travel agents. But railway authorities have become strict in issuing tatkal tickets, and police, too, are cracking down on touts who continue to make the reservation counters their favourite haunt, Amar noted.

However when TOI contacted chief reservation officer N Mohan, he denied the allegations. Mohan said, "Tickets are not reserved if passengers do not produce ID proof and we will inform police if any person is standing in queue frequently to get more than one ticket under Tatkal." Demand for Tatkal has declined as summer vacation has ended, Mohan added.