Halt all RAC tickets to control crowds at railway stations, suggest passengers

Passengers make suggestions after category allows multiple people into a coach if confirmed ticket holder doesn’t board or cancels

How to reduce crowds on railway premises? Could one way be discontinuing the Reserved Against Cancellation (RAC) category of tickets, which allows multiple passengers to get in the same coach? Passenger association members in Mumbai have written to the railways to see if this could be done to control crowds at least till the lockdowns and pandemic continue.

As per rules, a berth is allocated to the person who reserves an RAC ticket if passengers who already have a confirmed ticket do not board before the train departure, or get their confirmed tickets cancelled.

‘Threat to social distancing’

“We are observing another wave of the spread of the novel Coronavirus and it seems severe than the last one. The railways are operating special trains and have started issuing tickets as per earlier rules. Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) is similar to a waiting list. However, a passenger with a waitlisted ticket is not allowed to travel, while those with RAC tickets can travel. The RAC scheme forces three passengers to travel on the side lower berth (meant for two passengers only), which is a threat to social distancing,” said activist Akshay Mahapadi.

Western Railway Zonal Users’ Consultative Committee member Shailesh Goyal agreed. "It is a valid suggestion. Wait listed passengers are not allowed to travel, but there is no such restriction for RAC. The railways should look at curbing crowds by temporarily restricting RAC passengers as a policy, like they have done with senior citizen and other concessions,” he said.

“RAC allows more passengers than the actual carrying capacity of the coach. Hence, I would request you to discontinue issuing RAC tickets and allow only fully confirmed passengers inside station premises and the train to maintain social distancing,” Mahapadi wrote to the railways.

Official speak

Central Railway Chief Public Relations officer Shivaji Sutar said, “RAC helps allocate reserved seats for a needy passenger against the passenger who has not turned up. Generally, 1-2 passengers per coach do not turn up at the last moment due to personal reasons. Instead of keeping the seats vacant, they are used to clear RAC. We ensure that all COVID-19 norms are followed while allocating seats against passengers not turning up."

CR plaint against video

The Central Railway on Saturday registered a case with GRP at CSMT for investigation of a ‘tampered video’ showing crowds at Mumbai CSMT on April 7. The complaint letter, a copy of which is with mid-day, stated that the viral clip could create fear among the public and a also a panic-like situation. 

BEST passenger figures drop below 8 lakh

The number of passengers travelling by BEST buses on Saturday during the weekend lockdown was below 8 lakh. Officials said that the figures on Saturday were just 7,66,000.

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