Rajdhani scam: Pay double, get confirmed tickets 2 hours before train departs

That the Rajdhani Express occupies pride of place among the rides offered by Indian Railways is illustrated by the fact that tickets for this train are always hard to come by even months in advance On any given day the general waiting list for a 2tier AC seat on the August KrantiRajdhani Express running between Mumbai and Delhi is at least 150 names long Where agents ruleu00a0Left This agent got MiD DAY the tickets from the booking window and asked us to pay Rs 5000 for a ticket costing Rs 2730u00a0Right Agents were seen making the rounds of Mumbai Central statoin u00a0muttering lsquoRajdhaniRajdhanirsquo under their breath But at 358 pm yesterday with less than two hours to go for the trainrsquos departure MiD DAY managed to get its hands on one of the coveted Rajdhani tickets unearthing in the process a flourishing ticket scam operating at Mumbai Central station Whatrsquos more the tickets were booked for an absentee passenger with the authorities not so much as asking for an ID to verify that they were issuing a ticket for someone who actually existed This is how the 10daylong sting operation culminated The agents who offered to get tickets for us 330 pm Two MiD DAY correspondents reached Mumbai Central station The chart is prepared three hours before departure and the aim was to try and get tickets after the chart had been prepared 340 pm Agents could be seen making the rounds on the hunt for desperate clients muttering lsquoRajdhaniRajdhanirsquo under their breath We approached one of them a young man in his early 20s and asked him if we could get confirmed tickets for Rajdhani Express He nodded in the positive and took us to another agent an older man in his late 30s who was stationed at the stationrsquos taxi stand This agent made more detailed enquiries and we asked for a 2tier AC ticket for Delhi He handed us a reservation form upon which we informed him that the ticket was for a brother who wanted to board the train from Borivli and that the ticket had to be booked in his name u00a0We were then escorted to the booking office at the entrance of the stationrsquos main hall The hall was teeming with railway officials but the agent strode confidently into the booking office completely at ease He approached a booking clerk while we waited Minutes later he was back brandishing a ticket Neither the booking clerk nor the railway officials had objected to him jumping the queue 358 pm The agent had booked a confirmed AC 2tier ticket for the MumbaiRatlam leg of the journey and a waitlisted AC 3tier ticket for the RatlamDelhi stretch While the ticket came with the marked price of Rs 2730 we had to cough up Rs 5000 with the agent explaining that he would have to share the profits with different railway staffers It was shocking that the booking clerk had not even asked to see any ID of the passenger for whom the ticket was being booked in brazen violation of norms set by the Indian Railways that makes identification mandatory for booking a ticket Rajdhani and August KrantiRajdhani are considered VVIP trains with their coaches inspected by dog squads before every trip We even enjoyed half an hour on seat 31 of the A3 coach took photographs and left mdash With inputs from Neha LM Tripathi A confirmed AC 2tier ticket for the MumbaiRatlam leg of the journeyu00a0 A waitlisted AC 3tier ticket for the RatlamDelhi stretch Officialspeak There is a provision of en route bookings If an unauthorised person charges extra money to take advantage of the passengersrsquo ignorance it is wrong If tickets are being issued without the proper identity card we will enquire into the matter and take action against the guilty railway staff under disciplinary rules mdash Sharat Chandrayan Chief PRO Western Railway If we will get any complaints we will immediately take action We have our helpline and our staff is always around the railway premises if anybody approaches us and lodges a complaint we will surely take necessary action mdash Mahim Swamy Chief Security Commissioner RPF Western Railway u00a0