People sit in line beyond the iron rails in front of reservation counters to make tatkal bookings before 10am and (right) the scene after 10am at Bhubaneswar railway station. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, July 20: People looking to book tatkal tickets from Bhubaneswar railway station are waiting for cops to force them to mind their “p’s” and “queues”.

For, reaching the station hours before the counter opens will not ensure that you get a tatkal ticket.

With no separate counters for tatkal bookings, and cops unwilling to wield the baton to control this typical “me-first” behaviour, chaos reigns at the booking counter and only those survive who are willing to push and shove their way to the front.

Rashmi Ranjan Samal, a 21-year-old student of Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, had to stand at the counter on two days to book a tatkal ticket to Bangalore.

Though he stood in the queue from 5am, he failed to get a confirmed ticket. On both days, when the tatkal booking counters opened at 10am, people standing behind him pushed him aside and reached the counter first.

Getting a ticket under tatkal reservation has become a pain for many who come to the Bhubaneswar railway station, because cops are not willing to make sure that people keep to their places in the queue.

As there are no separate counters at the station for tatkal bookings, those who want tatkal bookings are supposed to stand in the same queue with others at the six general reservation counters once it’s 10am. The only difference is that while ordinary reservations start at 8am, tatkal bookings begin at 10am.

Till the tatkal bookings start, the tatkal crowd is asked to wait outside the iron rails in front of the counters meant for reservation.

But as soon as it is 10am and time for tatkal bookings to start, chaos reigns as everyone forgets the queue and rushes to reach the counter first. Also, at 10am, those who are waiting for general reservations, are already in queue. So, even if you are first among the tatkal crowd, you still may be behind many others at the counter, even though tatkal bookings close at 12noon.

“I have been standing in queue since 5am. Initially there were just three people ahead of me for tatkal bookings. But when the bookings started at 10am, I suddenly found myself behind 10 others as they had jumped the queue. They simply pushed me away and went ahead of me,” said Rashmi.

People also alleged that though they were enough police personnel at the reservation office, they never tried to ensure that a queue was maintained.

“When I asked one policeman deployed at the booking office about people violating the queue, he told me that there is no such system. When the counter finally opened at 10am, people pushed and elbowed their way to the counters even though the railway police were there,” said Mrunal Kuanr, a resident of Bhubaneswar.

The police pleaded helplessness. “Absence of separate counters for tatkal reservation is to blame for the chaos. We cannot distinguish between the passengers waiting for general reservations and tatkal tickets,” said a senior railway police officer, adding that passengers should try to maintain order in their own interest.

Sources said nearly 200 people visited the booking office every day seeking tatkal reservations.

People have also asked the authorities to introduce a token system for tatkal booking, as this would ease the difficulties. “It is very unfair that people who come late get their tickets first. The authorities must introduce a token system to ensure first-come-first-serve,” said Abinash Ojha, a resident of Chandikhol.

Sources said a number of railway stations such the ones at Vadodara, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Anand and Nadiad had introduced a token system for tatkal tickets.

A token number is issued on requisition forms of applicants a day before and they appear at the booking office the next day.

“We will look into the matter and necessary action will be taken after that,” said chief public relations officer of East Coast Railway R.N. Mohapatra.