COIMBATORE: Passengers who commute daily on the Coimbatore-Mettupalayam MEMU train service allege that railway department officials refuse to issue Manual Session Unreserved Tickets (MSUT) to them.
TNIE visited Coimbatore North railway station on Friday and enquired about MSUTs at the booking counter; staff said that they don't MSUTs.
They say that booking-counter staff ask them to get session tickets through the mobile application, named UST, and say that MSUT or these general non-seat tickets cannot be issued at the booking counter.
A train passenger Suresh, told TNIE that until August he had been getting an MSUT to travel from Mettupalayam to Coimbatore for work by paying Rs 185 per month.
"Last month, I went to the ticket booking counter at Mettupalayam to get an MSUT, but the staff said they would not issue MSUTs to passengers and told me that tickets could only be bought by downloading the mobile app. Even after trying at Coimbatore North station, Coimbatore Junction and Podanur station, I got the same uniform reply from all of them," he said, expressing concern.
"Forcing passengers to use the app to get session tickets is unfair. When there is no official communication from the Railway Department through a government order or circular, how can they say they cannot issue MSUTs at the counter?" he asked. He also said that there has been no announcement about this at Coimbatore railway stations.
Another passenger said, "Students and those without smartphones or who do not know how to use the app struggle without an MSUT. As a result, they are forced to wait in long lines at counters just to buy train tickets daily."
"I booked a session ticket through the app recently, but I could not take a screenshot. While I was travelling by train from Karamadai to Coimbatore Railway Station, the TTR asked me to show the ticket on the app. I opened it, but the ticket did not appear due to slow internet", he recalled.
He also pointed out that without a Google Pay account, passengers cannot use this app. He urged that if the Railway Department continues to issue MSUTs , it would be easier to show the ticket to the TTR.
When asked about it, an officer at a railway station ticket counter in Coimbatore said that to boost digital payment activity among passengers, they ask them to download the app and use it to buy tickets.
In response, the Salem Division of Southern Railway clarified that the issuance of MSUTs has not been stopped entirely and it would look into the matter.
