Bengaluru: On Monday (April 1), a Travelling Ticket Inspector on board the New Tinsukia Superfast Express from Sir M Visvesvaraiah Terminal to Guwahati was bitten on his hand by a ticketless passenger when he asked him to produce his ticket.
The incident took place in the Bengaluru Division when the train was on its way to Krishnarajapuram, said a railway official on the condition of anonymity. This is just one recent violent incident which has come to light but countless incidents of violence against Ticket checkers are just accepted as part of the job, say those bearing the brunt of them.
The death of Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) K Vinod in Thrissur after he was kicked from the moving Ernakulam-Patna train by Odisha passenger Rajanikanth on Tuesday (April 2) during an argument over his ticket has caused much agony and fear among ticket checking staff in South Western Railway Zone.
Bengaluru’s V Santhosh Kumar, a Travelling Ticket Examiner could have met a similar fate six years ago but he was fortunate.
Six passengers robbed him, tied him up and pushed out of the moving Yesvantpur-Howrah Express on April 18, 2018, when he asked two of them travelling on tickets not issued in their names to pay a penalty for impersonation. Kumar was thrown in the darkness near Katpadi railway station. He sustained injuries but managed to walk upto the station with the help of the gateman and go for treatment.
Another official recalled that three years ago, a woman TTE was beaten by six women who had entered the KSR railway station without a platform ticket when she asked them for their tickets.
“We want security when we do our job. Whether it is checking tickets at the platform or onboard trains, our job is a risky one. One never knows in what mood a passenger is. Encountering drunk or aggressive passengers and being abused verbally or physically when asked for the ticket is a routine affair,” said a senior TTE.
Others seconded it. There are RPF personnel on board trains but they might be monitoring a different coach while TTE might be somewhere else, he added.
A senior SWR official said disputes between TTEs and passengers have shot up post the introduction of LHB coaches over the ICF ones, particularly in long distance trains to East and North East parts. “The number of unreserved coaches have come down. Many with open tickets get into reserved coaches. Hence, arguments have soared between Ticket staffers and passengers. We have also written to the Railway Board about it and they are trying to sort out this issue.”
None of the senior railway officials in the Bengaluru Division were willing to speak to this reporter about the issue despite repeated calls and messages.
