29 April,2014 08:50 AM IST | | Ankoor Anvekar
Passengers protest, say the Allahabad High Court order was implemented without creating enough awareness
Thane Station
The railways' alleged sudden implementation of an Allahabad High Court order requiring an address proof while issuing new season passes or renewing old ones saw a protest from a large number of passengers at Thane station yesterday.
Many people had to wait for a long time to get their passes made and several of them got late for work. Some even preferred to buy a day ticket rather than waste time submitting their address details. Monthly pass holders at Thane station were irked after the authorities refused to issue season passes to those not having a valid address proof.
A notice about the rule pasted outside a counter after the protest
People standing in long queues sharply criticised railway officials for not creating enough awareness about the new rule and for failing to put up a notice on the station premises regarding its implementation.
The confrontation started around 9.30 am with people surrounding the ticket windows and arguing with the issuers. Commuters also alleged that authorities were rude to those who were not aware of the new regulation.
"At first, the ticket issuer was not ready to give season passes to those not having a valid address proof. But when we all protested together, the authorities finally agreed to issue passes after we submitted our addresses on a sheet of paper," said Anup Save (26), a regular commuter from Thane to Andheri.
When commuters expressed displeasure over the time-consuming process, the authorities agreed to issue passes provided the pass holder wrote his address on the back of his season ticket identity card.
"This is a time-consuming rule. They should have at least had the courtesy to paste a notice across all the platforms and stalls so that we would have been aware of the new regulations," said a commuter.
Following the protests, railway officials attached a notice about the new regulation on the season ticket counter near platform no. 1 of Thane.
