Homebound passengers' woes

IT is the same old story of angry men returning home dejected at not being able to get tickets. And the sufferings of those planning to travel home to enjoy Eid with family and friends keep on recurring every year with, it seems, an ascending intensity. And their haplessness and misery continue to remain unmitigated, with no one really caring to do anything of note to see an end to the terrible situation confronting the home goers.
This is the time when one sees increase in the fares for all modes of surface transports and tickets become a rare commodity. It is so devastating to see pictures of multitudes lining up from midnight for tickets at the railway counters with most of them returning dejected as usual.
As for train services, we understand that additional passenger compartments are being provided for this occasion, but that is hardly enough to cater to the large number of people planning to get home in the last few days of Ramadan. While one understands that the present railway resources are not able to cope with the demand, what aggravates the misery of the public is to see the nexus between railway officials and ticket brokers exploiting the situation and making money at the expense of the common man.
And, in spite of active presence of law enforcing agencies including RAB at the railway stations and ticket counters, to see reports of tickets being siphoned off to black marketeers by people connected with the system, is unacceptable.
Similar is the situation with private bus and launch services where travellers can do very little against arbitrary hike in fares and where too most tickets find their way into the hands of black marketeers. And of course do not write off the extortionists who are over active at this time in extorting money from passenger buses.
It was time the administration intervened instead of leaving the people at the mercy of dishonest railway staff and greedy private bus and launch operators. It is exasperating that illegal transaction, as one picture appearing in some national dailies reveals, can happen in broad daylight under everyone's nose. Not only that this practice must be dealt with a heavy hand, those that have indulged in it, and those tasked to prevent it must also be held to account for there failure to curb the practice.
The BRTC must also get its full fleet of buses on road which we feel would help to some extent ameliorate the suffering of the homebound passengers.