Train travel just got a clean-up, and it is passenger convenience, comfort, and, most importantly, justice for those who buy tickets. The Railway Police Force (RPF) of Central Railway has cracked down on 1367 touts and illegal seat blockers. What the prime concern was, and so became the focus, was the notorious practice of ‘towel spreading’. This is a ‘tactic’ where unauthorised passengers occupy reserved berths and seats using towels, bags or handkerchiefs before genuine passengers board. They simply put them on the seats, illegally ‘reserving’ them in that way and keeping the genuine, ticket-buying passenger off the seat. A senior officer stated that this nuisance, common on long-distance trains, has become a major problem for passengers travelling with confirmed reservations.
What was needed was a large-scale operation to weed out illegal seat occupation and see that only genuine passengers get their seats. Action was taken, and besides other offences, officials stated that the operation was aimed at restoring reserved coaches to genuine ticket holders.
This is absolutely necessary, and in fact, the Railways should issue warnings against ‘occupying’ seats illegally across its address system. If the ticket buyer himself is deprived of his space, then we will see passengers simply shrugging off buying tickets. The message sent out is: do not buy a ticket. Save your money. Board the train and use this towel/bag method to simply reserve a place/seat you have not paid for. Why bother being honest and paying for a ticket to reserve a seat? One can use these nefarious means to bag a seat. It also leaves the genuine passenger bitter, distressed, and cynical.