Token system for normal reservation process has proved to be a failed experiment at Ranchi Railway Station. The system which was meant for the convenience of people turned out to be futile. And now it has been dropped for an uncertain period of time except for the tatkal counter reservations.
A large number of passengers waiting for their token numbers to be displayed at the counters looked confused and irritated as the counters were vacant and the staffs doing the reservation were waiting for token numbers whose holders were not present at the spot.
The main reason behind the implementation of the system was to counter the rush at the reservation counters. Under this system each individual gets token number from the token machine for his turn at the counter. The individual numbers are then displayed on the central screen alongside the respective counter numbers showing ‘whose turn at which counter number’.
There is a dearth of manpower and limited number of counters at the reservation centre. Besides this the absence of displayed guidelines for common people about the working of token system resulted in the confusion among people and the implementation programme ended up in fiasco.
“The token system is meant for the systematic working at the counters and to avoid malpractices for the benefit of public. But we have a limited number of ticket counters and manpower. Plus the public is unaware about the working of token system. We had to make announcement again and again to properly guide the public but it turned out to be of no benefit. This created a lot of confusion and delay. And it was not possible to carry on with this system” mentioned Anita Sinha CRS, explaining about the problem. “We tried to implement the token system at all the reservation counters on experimental basis. But due to the lack of manpower the implementation was not successful. For now, we have dropped the plan.” said Anita Sinha Chief Reservation Supervisor.
For now the token system is only at the tatkal reservation counter. It has been four months now since the token system was implemented in the month of September. She added.
On comparing the situations of now and then the one said benefit can be observed. “The only difference made by the implementation of token system is, now there is no need to stand at the queue for long hours. We can sit and wait for our turn to come. And tickets are allotted according to the token numbers at the respective counter. This also reduces the rush at the counter,” said Sumit. He availed the facility of tatkal reservation under token system.