CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Badulla-Colombo online seat reservation time reduced to 30 seconds
Colombo, January 19 (Daily Mirror) - Despite recent actions, the Railways Department has revealed that groups involved in the online seat reservation racket continue to operate through the booking system.
These groups now manage to reserve all available seats within just 30 seconds, a reduction from the previous 42 seconds.
A senior department official explained, “Before the seats for Colombo Fort to Badulla were fully booked, all seats from Kandy to Nanuoya on the same train were also sold out today (19).”
A total of 454 seats are available on trains operating between Colombo Fort and Badulla, including seats in the observation carriage. These seats are reserved for both directions of travel.
Availability of seats are as follows:
- Trains 1005 and 1015: 74 Class 1 seats, 34 Class 2 seats, 58 Class 3 seats (Total: 166 seats).
- Train 1045: 52 Class 2 seats, 40 Class 3 seats (Total: 92 seats).
- Train 1007: 30 observation carriage seats.
- Train 1023: 32 seats.
The ticket fare for the Colombo-Badulla trains as follows:
- Class 1: Rs. 3,000 per person (one way)
- Class 2: Rs. 2,000 per person (one way)
- Class 3: Rs. 1,500 per person (one way).
- Observation Carriage: Rs. 3,000 per person (one way).
The total one-way revenue for Trains 1005 and 1015 between Colombo Fort and Badulla amounts to Rs. 377,000.
The Ella Odyssey train offers a total of 311 seats, categorised as follows:
160 Class 1 seats, 128 Class 2 seats, and 23 Class 3 seats.
Ticket fare for Ella Odyssey:
- Class 1 (Air-Conditioned): Rs. 8,000 per person (one way)
- Class 2: Rs. 6,000 per person (one way)
- Class 3: Rs. 5,000 per person (one way).
The total revenue for a one-way journey on the Ella Odyssey Train amounts to Rs. 2,163,000. This is distributed as Rs. 1,280,000 for Class 1, Rs. 768,000 for Class 2, and Rs. 115,000 for Class 3.
The Railways Department has confirmed that tickets for these trains are being resold at inflated prices by groups involved in the racket, further exacerbating the issue and raising concerns over the integrity of the booking system.
The official also said that the tickets are issued online every weekend and there are reports of groups that buy all the tickets instantly and thereafter selling a ticket worth Rs. 2,000 for as much as Rs. 16,000 to foreigners.
However, Railways General Manager N.J. Indipolage appreciated this effort and said during a media briefing that the Railways Department is in a good position to sell all e-tickets within 42 seconds.
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