Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Unreasonable rule

Sir, — I fully endorse the views expressed by readers on the extremely unreasonable treatment of travelling senior citizens. Recently, I escorted my father aged 81 years from Chennai. We boarded the Pallavan Express at Egmore station. A few minutes before the departure of the train, I learnt from my father that he had forgotten to bring the age proof document. I approached the TTE and told him about this and said that I would forego the concession and pay the difference and the penalty. To my utter shock and disbelief, he said he was forced to treat the whole ticket (a combined ticket of mine and my father's) as invalid and that we would be treated as ticketless travellers and fined accordingly (about Rs.1,000 odd). I approached another railway official and he was kind and understanding and took me to the booking clerk at the counter, made him collect the additional charge and penalty, which amounted to Rs.75, and issued a receipt. I was just in time to board the train.

I request the railway authorities to take immediate steps to change this unreasonable rule.

R. Parthasarathy,

Tiruchi, T.N.

Mumbai

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