While passengers are forced to fight the vacation rush, railway employees in league with touts and agents are cashing in on the high demand for tickets. Around 250 railway staff members, mostly reservation clerks, have been caught in ticket rackets operating from different railway stations across Northern Railway.
Officials carried out intensive checks at all major locations over Northern Railway since the summer rush began. They checked at trains, reservation centres, platforms, parcel offices and catering units. Checks were also carried out against touts and unauthorised travel agents.
“Around 602 preventive checks were conducted on railway staff deployed in mass contact areas especially at passenger reservation centres and booking centres. As a result, action against 252 staff members has been initiated,” a northern railway official said.
A total of 116 touts and 10 unauthorised travel agents were apprehended, while five persons were detected travelling on transferred tickets. Apart from that, 13 rail travel service agents were also found involved in illegal business of rail tickets, said an official.
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