E-ticket reservation by Sri Lanka Railways runs into flak
With the recently introduced E-ticket reservation system by Sri Lanka Railways (SLR), all seats in the upcountry railway line (from Colombo Fort to Badulla) have been reserved till the end of December 2013.
Commercial Superintendent of SLR, Sisira Kumara told Ceylon Today, according to the new method of reserving railway tickets, passengers can reserve tickets 45 days ahead of their journey, and as a result, nearly 3,600 commuters had reserved their tickets on the upcountry railway line.
However, All Ceylon Railway Workers’ Union (ACRWU), had found fault with the Ministry of Transport for extending the time period of reserving long distance railway tickets from 10 days to 45 days, claiming that this step had made the railway warrants given to State employees, worthless.
General Secretary of the ACRWU, Sumathipala Manawadu said, State employees receive their railway warrant two weeks ahead of their journeys, but with this newly introduced ticket reserving scheme, State employees will not be able to reserve their seats.
“Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Dhammika Perera had decided to extend the time period of reserving railway tickets to 45 days from 10 days. As a result, when State try to reserve their tickets, they find that all the tickets had been reserved leaving them with no way of obtaining tickets for their travel,” he complained. Manawadu noted that the Ministry Secretary had said this initiative was taken in a bid to encourage tourists.
“If they want to provide the facility of reserving railway tickets early for tourists they should do so without it impacting on the privileges that State employees are entitled to,” he claimed.
He pointed out, if the government wants to allow people to reserve railway tickets 45 days in advance, they should also provide railway warrants to State employees that number of days ahead.
Denying the allegations levelled by Manawadu, Kumara noted that with the E-ticket reservations, State employees too could reserve their tickets before they receive the railway warrant.
(Courtesy: Ceylon Today)
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Stop this family warrant business. Let them pay for their travel like others.
O Dear Ranjith Perera.
Please do not try to be wicked. It is not fair to talk of scrapping this only consolation for the poor State employees for their three sets of Railway warrants. They do not have yearly bonuses and other perks like in the private sector.
It’s better to take initiatives & adhere to the new systems,but should it be with a concern of all the areas..SLR could have blocked few seats for warrant holders.So,that those people can also travel with out any problem..Anyway,it’s better to have such an online booking system rather than experiencing stupid attitudes of reservation personals at Fort station..
Mr.Ranjith Perera, please know that government departments pay the full amount to railway dept on behalf of their workers. Also know that the salary of a clerk in public service is just 13000, a teacher 14000, drivers and peons around 12000, even at director level salary starts at 21000. With such low salaries whats wrong with getting a subsidy for their rail ticket? A public servant should be praised for serving the public with such a meagre pay. Remember that outside the cities they endure much hardship serving far off villages some even without roads. Dont insult them please. They may have weaknesses but they do there duty most of the time.