E-ticket breakdown on Kelani Valley line leaves travelling without tickets

Colombo, May 21 (Daily Mirror) - A breakdown in the e-ticket entry system at seven railway stations on the Kelani Valley Railway Line resulted in three office trains operating to Colombo Fort without issuing tickets to passengers this morning (21), Chairman of the Railway Station Master's Association Sumedha Somaratne said.

He said the malfunction affected the e-ticket system at Maharagama, Nawinna, Baseline, Nugegoda, Kota Road and Narahenpita railway stations, preventing tickets from being issued to passengers travelling to Colombo Fort.

As a result, passengers using the Kelani Valley Line were compelled to travel without tickets, causing disruption during the morning office rush.

Somaratne said the issue had been worsened by the removal of the previous train card ticket system following the introduction of the e-ticketing system at the affected stations, leaving no alternative method to issue tickets when the system failed.

He further claimed that thousands of passengers travelled to Colombo on three office trains without tickets, resulting in a significant revenue loss to the Railway Department.

He urged authorities to take immediate action to recover the losses and address the technical issues in the ticketing system to prevent similar incidents in the future.