Title - TTE shortage hits rail divisions in State

Tickets are not verified in many coaches; TTEs are unable to help passengers

Shortage of Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) is posing problems to the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad railway divisions. The Railways are losing revenue, TTEs are complaining of work overload, and commuters are being inconvenienced.Thiruvananthapuram division has a sanctioned strength of 598 TTEs, but only 485 are on the rolls, which is not enough to man the trains originating from the division. In Palakkad, there is a shortage of 61 TTEs as only 372 are on the rolls.Railway sources told The Hindu that Thiruvananthapuram division needed 635 TTEs and Palakkad 576, taking into account the increase in the number of mail and express trains sanctioned for the State.As per the railway norms before e-ticketing, one TTE has to man two sleeper class coaches.If air-conditioned coaches, one TTE has to man three. Often, manpower shortage forces TTEs to monitor more coaches. Many a time three to four coaches go unmanned, especially in trains commencing at night. “It is impossible for the TTEs to verify all tickets before passengers sleep. When passengers are asked to show the ticket for verification, they get angry. Most tickets go unverified,” says a TTE.

Now, 50 to 60 per cent are e-tickets and the TTEs have to check the identity card and the paper ticket as well as to find if the passenger is bonafide. A TTE needs at least 45 minutes to check the tickets and identity cards in a sleeper class coach.

TTEs say that due to the workload they are unable to provide assistance to passengers in case of an emergency and often cannot assign vacant berths to RAC passengers. Often commuters have to search for the TTE, especially at night, to get their ticket confirmed. Unverified tickets by the TTEs are submitted for cancellation after the journey, resulting in revenue loss to the Railways.

TTEs hope that the Railway Recruitment Board will fill the vacant posts. The last recruitment was in 2007.

Commuters submit unverified tickets for cancellation

Last recruitment to the posts was made in 2007