The South Central Railway has dismissed news reports on free travel on Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) trains from June 2.
The Telangana government has announced that free travel would be provided to all passengers, including men and women, on MMTS, as part of a pilot project aimed at easing traffic congestion and pollution in Hyderabad. However, the SCR is not ready to provide free travel.
The SCR authorities said that government representatives had only met them formally but did not give any letter mentioning about the plan. It would be better if the Telangana government restrains from making any statements about MMTS free travel without undergoing any understanding with the SCR, the officials said.
The Railway officials said that they would be able to take the permission of the Railway Board on the matter if the Telangana government submitted a written document on the same. At the same time, the officials said there was least chance for the Railway Board to accept the free travel proposal.
There are reports that the Telangana government is planning to provide free travel to the passengers for one year but the Railway Board will have to take a final decision on the matter and then only can it be implemented, the SCR officials said.
Providing free journey would lead to numerous security problems and the Railway Protection Force will have to decide about it. The SCR officials suggested that the Telangana government do not make such announcements without consulting the authorities concerned.
Meanwhile, there is criticism that the Congress government, under the leadership of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, had already pushed the RTC into trouble by providing free travel to women. Now, the Congress government is trying to ruin the Railways too by announcing free travel, while local trains bring a good revenue to the department.
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