These days, several railway passengers have been taking to social media to show the ''dire'' condition of trains, which have been marred by overcrowding and ticketless passengers occupying seats. Now, a Reddit user recounted a rather ''jarring'' and ''disappointing'' experience on a Rajdhani train. The passenger, who was travelling with his parents, claimed that the ticket collector (TC) refused him entry into the 1AC coach despite having a valid ticket. Instead, the TC asked him to produce a physical ticket.
Describing the incident, he explained, ''I was travelling with my family on the Rajdhani train. I temporarily went out of the coach to meet with a friend who was waiting on the railway platform and delivered a few things to him that he had asked for from my home city. Now I re-enter the train, and I try to go to first a/c but suddenly there's a train conductor that's not letting me go in.
He says 'Sir this is only for 1a passengers and entry for other people isn't allowed'. I said that I had a ticket and I showed it to him (on the irctc app) but he refused and says that only physical ticket will be accepted (which was in my bag that I had kept with my family).''
See the post here:
Conductor didn't let me into First A/C despite having a ticket.
byu/SecretGamerV_0716 inindia
The situation then escalated when the train started moving. The TC eventually called security and instructed them to forcefully escort him to the 3AC coach.
''They asked me to share with a random family and I would be asked to get off on the next stop. Eventually, my mother came and talked to the conductor and got me in but it was a very jarring experience. I am very disappointed,'' he added.
Several users were shocked to learn about the incident and slammed the ticket collector for harassing the passenger. One user said, ''Only a PNR number is sufficient, if they don't accept that then you can show the ticket on the irctc website. You should have raised a complaint, there is an app for that from irctc. Always speak with an authoritarian voice with these morons, let them know that you know your rights.''
Another commented, ''Only physical tickets allowed? What a clown. I have been travelling my entire life with just IRCTC tickets where I had it only as an SMS or email. Thankfully I never had to face such clowns.''
A third said, ''Just raise a complaint if your travel is not older than 5 days on the railway complaint app. What an arrogant fool that guy would be to deny you entry even after you showed a valid e-ticket.''
A fourth added, ''TTEs are a useless bunch of people. They never bother when many people without tickets jump into the AC coaches. They only know how to show their power before people who they think they can bully.''