Government is claiming that the Pakistan Railway is moving towards betterment under the PMLN government and soon it will be ‘state of the art’ transportation with free WiFi, e-ticketing and other facilities.
Minister of Railway Khawaja Saad Rafique on more than one occasions claimed that the system has been upgraded and is ‘computerized’ but the reality is you cannot even get a duplicate of your railway ticket.
[junkie-alert style=”green”] In the whole world getting a duplicate ticket is easy and cheap, in neighboring India you can get a copy of your ticket by paying only a small amount. And if you found the ticket after acquiring duplicate you can reclaim the paid amount. [/junkie-alert]
In Pakistan the railway officers and employees at railway stations will confirm that your ticket was booked. They will take your NIC number and will say yes your seat is booked but if you ask for a copy they will say it’s not possible because there is no policy for duplicate ticket. If you ask them to let you travel as they have confirmed the booking they will deny.
I have seen people who lost their tickets in taxi, some misplaced it and others lost it by pick pocketing or snatching. And when they asked the railway for re-issuing ticket they were surprised to know that there is no system for reissuance of ticket.
Recently Pakistan Railway launched e-ticketing which provided the facility of booking ticket from comfort of home, on booking you receive a SMS which serves as a ticket. In case of lost of mobile or SMS anyone can easily get another SMS by just visiting the official website of Pakistan Railways and even NIC of passenger will be enough to travel if you lost the ticket.
The question is then why such facility is not available for customers who have purchased tickets by visiting railway stations? It’s only because the government doesn’t think about the problems of common man.
Saleem rashid
online booking should be available for duplicate. why delay in every thing in pakistan?