Train passengers, irrespective of the route, are subject to harrowing times due to the overbearing presence of unauthorised vendors, who sell anything from samosas and fruits to seasonal drinks like buttermilk in the summers .
Hyderabad:Train passengers, irrespective of the route, are subject to harrowing times due to the overbearing presence of unauthorised vendors, who sell anything from samosas and fruits to seasonal drinks like buttermilk in the summers . These vendors enter the train in small stations, travel for a distance and get down after making substantial sales. Even those travelling in AC compartments bear their torture.
Even worse is that their loud shouts awaken those sleeping.
Ravindranath, who was travelling from Hyderabad to Hubli in II AC, was perplexed when the curtains were moved by a vendor wanting to know if he wished to buy guavas that he was selling.
“I am travelling with a family and we were in a discussion, when he just pushed the curtains. He was an unauthorised vendor as he neither had the mandatory uniform nor an ID card.”
A TT said “Although trains have their own authorised vendors, such unauthorised sellers do board the train. They are quick in getting in and getting down.”
Incidentally, the unauthorised vendors can be spotted between Hyderabad and Bombay; from Vikarabad to Tandur; between Hyderabad and Gulbarga, among others. They travel without tickets.”
A senior official of South Central Railway said, “We conduct continuous checks to deter such personnel. Those who are caught are fined Rs 5,000. Several of them are produced before the railway magistrate, who can jail them from 10 to 30 days and slap a fine of up to `2,000.”
