Today I went to a railway booking office to book a ticket for my grandfather who wanted to go on his regular quarterly trip from Lahore to Jhelum. The plan was to book a seat in Lower AC as usual. One of the staff there (I must appreciate their attitude as they are always kind and have smiles on there faces) told me that since 15th of April, 2009 all AC and lower AC coaches have been removed from the train and no booking options will be available in this an all economy class train.

I was shocked as there was no reason given for this move. One can consider that this was done keeping in mind profitability but still there is no need for shutting down Lower AC because its never empty like Upper AC. Besides, the fares for both coaches have almost doubled in the past 2 years. I wonder whats going on because this is the railway which had started giving booking options from smaller stations as well and had plans to extend it and has now withdrawn all booking options from not only this train but also from many others train routes as well. Only option available now is to travel in economy class without a booking.
Say bye bye to convenience and expect profitability…. dream on…

Related posts:

1. Railway stops Platform Ticket sales causing trouble to people coming to see off their relatives
2. No proper waiting areas and sitting places in Lahore Railway Station