Commuters say that in the absence of a train ticket counter, they have to cross ticketed area without one; seek intervention of Central Railway
The closed ticket counter in Ghatkopar Metro premises
Commuters have complained about the lack of a Central Railway ticket counter in the Ghatkopar Metro premises on the west side of the railway station. They sought CR’s intervention, saying that as the ticket counter on the west side is closed, those travelling by Metro have to cross a railway bridge, which is a ticketed area, to the counter on the east side to buy their tickets.
“The new location of the ticket counter is on the east side of the bridge. But for this, one needs to walk up the bridge, which is a ticketed area of railways. The railways should put up signage about whether we are allowed to use the bridge without tickets so that ticket checkers do not harass us,” a commuter, Rama Choudhary said.
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Another commuter from Chembur, Avinash Jankeshwar, said, “The counter inside the Metro premises has been shut for the past few years now and there is no signage about the new location of the CR ticket counter, leaving us searching for it.”
They added that since the Ghatkopar Metro station and the railway station are in very close proximity, they could not book tickets on the railways’ UTS app too. “One has to start buying a ticket onboard the Metro train one station earlier at Jagruti Nagar itself. But not all may be aware of it,” Ghatkopar resident Nishant Shah said.
Yatri Sangh Mumbai member Subhash Gupta who highlighted the issue said that a booking counter for local train tickets should be made available inside the Metro premises. “It is about seamless connectivity, and it should not be difficult for the railways to keep their ticket machines or open the counter inside the Metro station so that commuters can enter the railway premises with a ticket in hand.”
Central Railway officials said that there was a genuine issue of lack of space inside the Metro station and with long queues, it always led to crowding. “At Ghatkopar west upper deck near Metro station, two booking windows functioned earlier in four shifts. However, owing to space constraints, a proper queuing area outside the booking office was not available leading to heavy congestion/interference with free movements of passengers entering/exiting the Metro station. To overcome this issue, a separate and a bigger booking office with four counters was constructed and made functional with effect from March 12, 2022 at the same deck level but on the east side wherein four counters function in six shifts. This has reduced congestion at the upper deck,” Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said.
“Additionally, three automatic ticket vending machines have been provided at the same level on the bridge itself, including those manned by validators. Passengers may use the machines with smart cards and even buy tickets via UPI payments etc,” he added. Ticket checkers at the station said that they do not check tickets of commuters who come from the Metro bridge, but only of those who climb up the bridge platform from the railway platform.
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No. of ticket counters on east side of bridge
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