Booking counter offers respite

Chennai: The opening of a booking counter for long distance trains at Villivakkam station has come as a boon to over seven lakh residents of Villivakkam and Kolathur constituencies as they do not have to travel a long way to book tickets. The counter was opened on October 30, 2015.

“The new counter that has opened  for long distance trains will save money, time and energy for me as after retiring from Integral Coach Factory (ICF) I had to go all alone to Anna Nagar,” said 57-year-old Jagadeeswara Reddy, who has retired as a senior mechanical engineer from ICF two years ago.

“Most of us are not well versed with the online mode of booking and are used to buying tickets at the counters and the one opened now will come as a huge respite for senior citizens like me,” he said.

The move comes after consistent pressure from various resident welfare associations and senior citizens forums submitting petitions and memorandums to the Southern Railway for the past ten years.

The residents in the neighboring localities, a large population of retired officials of southern railway and the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) are mostly senior citizens who have been depending on reservation counter at Anna Nagar, Perambur and Avadi to book long distance tickets by opting out of online reservation facility.

The ticket official at the counter said that around 350 long distance tickets have been booked within a day after the counter was opened. “We thought of conducting the inaugural event of the counter by inviting the local MLA, councilors and politicians. Since everyone was busy, a few senior railway officials, welfare association members did the formality,” said S. Mohanan, a senior station official at Villivakkam.