Countless sound bytes and paper reams have been spent in an effort to cover Monday’s (22nd December 2008) chaos at Dumdum Metro station where there was violence and lathicharge by the police – all because a passenger had traveled 2 Zones (Fare Rs. 6) on a 1 Zone (Rs.4) ticket.
While who was in the wrong is debatable without having evidence in hand – the passenger, the ticket collection machine, the security and Metro officials or the mobs for the subsequent violence, as a regular Metro user I can confidently say that the ticketing system is seriously flawed and results in harassment and frustration for everyday commuters.
The gates take in early 1980s technology magnetically striped paper tickets – which are prone to the following malfunctions:
1. Jamming at exit gates – this happens at almost every Metro station exit due to:
a) Tickets getting bent in people’s bags trouser pockets, wallets etc.;
b) Jamming of the conveyor mechanism which carries the ticket to the ticket reader unit inside the gates (which you can frequently see the staff oiling/repairing)
c) Ticket being accepted (yellow light flashes) but gate not opening.
2. Valid tickets being rejected – This happens quite frequently at exit gates where one gate rejects the ticket and the next one accepts it and allows you to leave smoothly.
>>Picture this at office hour Kolkata – you hold a perfectly valid ticket and put it into the gate to exit – it rejects it (red light glows)– once, twice, and there are 20 people behind you who start grumbling, three times and they screaming at you – to get through or let them go.
>>The only solution (for you will never find any Metro staff when you need them) is to join the end of another queue at another gate and it will let you through eventually. This is not one instance but has happened repeatedly to me and I expect to other Kolkata Metro passengers too.
3. User unfriendliness -Difficulty in reading the ticket – I asked for a return ticket from Tollygunge to Rabindra Sadan (2 Zone 2 Ride MPS (Max No. of Persons) 1 in ‘Metro-speak’), but got a one way ticket for 2 persons (2 Zone 1 Ride MPS 2). It is difficult for the uninitiated traveller to understand what is printed on the ticket.
>>How on earth is a guy who wants to go from X to Y to figure out what Zones, Rides and MPS mean? Is there any guide anywhere? Does the ticketing clerk confirm to the verbally customer what ticket he/she is issuing? Is a Metro user bound to be literate in ‘Metro-speak’?
>>Caveat emptor – "Let the buyer beware" applies to all those boarding the Kolkata Metro.
4. Pathetic customer service at exit gates: This mistake was discovered only at the exit gate at Rabindra Sadan when I put the ticket in passed through but it wouldn’t come out at the other side for reuse for the return journey.
>>If you are stuck in such a predicament here’s what to do:
a. Search for some responsible Metro official: A lot of Metro exits are unmanned (example – Tollygunge only one of the three exits – the one at the center - is manned all the time). God forbid you get stuck at an unmanned one – many people simply jump over the exit gate when stuck - which defeats the entire purpose. Most ladies are stuck here though and take a long walk to some other exit to look for assistance.
b. Convince them that you are not lying: My experience is that the metro staff initially refuse to admit that there was a problem, then try to put the blame on you and after a long argument finally agree to investigate what is wrong. (I have had a Limited Multi-ride ticket confiscated a Metro gate when it still had 5 rides left…but that’s another story. I was finally able to recover it and use it five more rides).
c. Recover your ticket: It took five minutes of heated argument with the staff at Rabindra Sadan before they agreed to retrieve the ticket and check what was wrong. We found it was issued for a single journey for 2 persons, instead of 2 journeys (return) for one person. Anyway since I had no way to prove that I traveled alone (nobody accompanied me) there was no redressal - I was just asked to be careful while collecting the ticket next time.
d. It’s a government run monopoly – there is no need to have goodwill gestures like issuing a return journey ticket free of cost to the customer. As said before – caveat emptor!
>>>>Suggestions for improvement:
>>What I write here is sure to find resonance with everyday users of the Kolkata Metro and here are a few suggestions for improvement:
a.>> Smart tickets: Visit the Delhi Metro – they have “smart tickets” which are colour- coded reusable plastic tokens – you touch it at the gate and they open (no mechanical parts hence no paper-ticket jams). These are collected and stored at the exit gate for reuse (hence cost-efficient). These are cheaper to issue and re-issue compared to the Smart cards of Kolkata metro which we find to be viable only for customers buying multi-ride tickets.
b.>>Confirmation by Counter Staff/Visual Display:
>>>There needs to be some confirmation to the customer that he has received a ticket for the correct destination – this can be verbal – from the counter staff or a visual display unit at the ticketing counter which shows simply From: X To:Y Rs.Z.
>>>It should be possible for the origin and destination stations to be mentioned on the ticket as on local train tickets in English and vernacular languages. It is only a matter of what you want the computer to print.
c. >>Exit Gates need to be manned Metro staff:
>>>As implementation of newer technology is time-taking and costly, tickets will continue getting jammed at the exit gates under the present system. As an immediate measure therefore we need Metro exits to be manned by trained personnel all the time who can address the various problems.
>>>Attitude training: These personnel need to be sensitized that it is not the customer/passenger who is wrong all the time. They need to investigate what is wrong, and provide solutions for both men and machines can and do go wrong.
i) If it is a mechanical problem, provide an alternate exit to the passenger
ii) If it is a ticket for lesser distance than the distance travelled, suggest that the passenger goes back to the correct station or let him/her exit with appropriate fine.
Most importantly these transactions need to be done in a dignified manner, without abuse or aggression on part of the Metro staff, and most definitely not extending to manhandling a passenger as happened on Monday.
This will make the expanding Metro Rail network a more humane one.
