01/12/2021
An Old Train Ticket
If you have traveled by trains, and I am sure you have, many times at that, you would recall the old railway ticket.
The railway ticket was yellow brown in colour, and contained the name of the start & end stations booked by a person. The names were written in English & the specific regional language. The date of the journey was stamped on top.
The distance in kilometers was also mentioned. Each ticket had a unique number. I am not sure if it was the PNR (Passenger Name Record) number or a basic serial number.
The name of the train, if I recall correctly, was not mentioned on tickets. I suppose you knew which train you were traveling in.
Names of the passengers were recorded at the time of purchase, manually entered in a register & in a computer later, and the chart was made available to the TC.
The seat & coach allotted were either stamped or handwritten on the ticket.
Accordingly, a reservation chart was affixed to the reservation stands on platforms, and outside each train coach, so you could match your name, seat & coach number & then enter the train. The TC checked it later during journey.
These tickets were so small in size that it was pretty easy to lose them. And in case your journey involved changing trains, for instance Delhi to Bangalore in the 80s was Delhi to Chennai & Chennai to Bangalore, then you had to carry two sets.
A person, then & perhaps even now, could book a maximum of six seats or berths, though a special window enabled you to book more if needed.
Now, you don't need to carry any tickets. An SMS sent to you contains all details, and you merely have to show your identity, virtually if you wish to. The TCs in bigger trains at least, carry touchpads, instead of paper charts.
And these days you can book tickets right up to the departure of the train. Happy with the progress but the soul has gone.
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