New ticket counter at Egmore railway station not accessible, complain passengers

CHENNAI: The passengers arriving at the Egmore railway station face hardships as it is difficult to find the new temporary ticket counter as the old one has been closed because of the ongoing Egmore railway station redevelopment work.

As there are no adequate sign boards, the passengers often enquire with their fellow passengers and auto drivers to reach the new counter located on EVK Sampath Road, 100 metres away from the old one adjacent to the railway platforms.

When DT Next visited the station, travellers complained that the new counters were not access-friendly. Many elderly people and others unfamiliar with the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) app depend solely on ticket counters.

Explaining the difficulties in finding the new counter, a senior citizen, A Natarajan said, When I de-boarded the train at Egmore, I went to the old counter to buy a ticket but it was closed. There were no signs nearby directing passengers to the new counter. I found the new counter only with the help of other passengers and reaching it is a cumbersome process for aged people like me as it is far from the station.

A commuter suggested that an automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) machine along with a railway employee near the station would be helpful.

Suggesting the same, another commuter, Abdul Rahim explained, Signboards should be fixed or other measures must be taken to direct the passengers as many are unaware of the shifting of the ticket counter. The railways can consider installing automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) near the platform or near the old ticket counter to mitigate the hurdles.

During DT Next's visit on Sunday afternoon, one out of three ATVMs in the new counter was found to be non-functional.

When contacted, an official attached to the Southern Railway stated that the engineering department has been working on signboards and ATVM machines installation and the work will be completed by this week.