The Central Railway has put up posters at all major reservation counters asking commuters not to buy tickets from unauthorised vendors

The commercial department of the Central Railway has initiated a poster campaign to prevent people from
buying tickets for long-distance trains from unauthorised vendors. These posters are pasted at most reservation counters at stations including CST, Dadar, Kalyan and Thane. ZM Siddiqui, Chief Commercial Manager of Central Railway, said, "Our effort is to control the illegal sale of tickets from touts.


One of the posters put up outside a Central Railway ticket booking counter.
The poster requests commuters not to buy or sell tickets illegally, if they
don't wish to land up behind bars. pic/ datta kumbhar

We have printed large posters that we hope will convey our idea at a single glance. Nobody has time to read complicated messages on posters, which is why we came up with the concept. We have received a good response on the same."

"The posters are designed such that even an illiterate person can comprehend the message," said a senior railway official about the posters that carry eye-catching graphics. Railway authorities, with the help of Railway Protection Force (RPF), have been carrying out a drive against touts, unauthorised vendors and people who sell seats in general compartments of long-distance trains.

Western Railway authorities have caught 80 people selling tickets illegally since January. This includes action taken by the commercial department of the railway, the RPF and the vigilance squad.