Cyber cafes closure irks commuters

CHENNAI: Last minute travellers and those who have been dependent on the e-ticketing facility of the Indian Railways have been dealt a severe blow, after the lone internet centre at the century-old Central Railway Station has been shut down. Coming a little after the closure of a pharmacy at the same mammoth railway station, this has put several last-minute ticket printers in a spot of bother.With the curtains being drawn on the Railtel Cyber Express, walking into the station to get a ticket printed has become impossible. “The most-affected are the ones who drop in at the station to take prints of their e-tickets,” said an employee of a stall, on condition of anonymity. Travellers who are always late, are the other section badly affected by the closure. “Several passengers reach the station barely 15-20 minutes before the departure time, hoping to board the train, after getting printed tickets from the cyber cafe here. Now, only locked doors welcome them,” the person added.Add to this, the rather conspicuous absence of browsing centres in the vicinity and many a passenger might be forced to give the train a miss, unless they wish to risk ticketless travel. “Browsing centres are situated only near the Ripon Buildings and people, otherwise, have to rush to Walltax Road and Parrys for the purpose,” the employee said. “The net centres here are usually seedy and do not have printers that work properly. So, it is practically impossible of availing a hard copy of an e-ticket, given the shortage of time,” he reasoned.The cyber cafe, which had 10 terminals, was operated by the RailTel Corporation of India Limited, a Public Sector Unit (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways and offered services such as ISD calls, high-speed internet usage and a print at a nominal fee. Increasingly, it had become a sought-after facility, which was used by thousands of travellers, including business executives who commute by trains every day.Alleging that the railways was paying more attention to commercial ventures at the cost of passengers’ amenities, T Ravi Kumar, President, All India Train and Bus Passengers Association, wondered why an essential facility has been closed down even as the number of eateries are on the rise. “A telegram office operating on the premises of the Central Railway Station was shut a few years ago, citing it as an unviable option. Now it’s the turn of the cyber cafe,” he observed.When contacted, a senior official with RailTel in Chennai claimed that the Cyber Express became defunct six months ago. “The rent, paid for the stall, was more than the revenue earned from the facility. As it was economically not viable, the facility was closed,” the official stated.