Latest from Alarab Alqatariah
Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%
Indian Railways capped waiting lists at 25 per cent. Reservation staff find this uneconomical and inconvenient. The Railway Board defends the decision, citing low confirmation rates. They aim to reduce crowding and cancellation revenue. Critics say it hinders demand assessment for special trains. Vacant berths and potential broker exploitation are concerns. Experts suggest more trains instead of caps. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Railway's decision to limit the passenger waiting list to 25 per cent of the capacity of each class has been flagged by reservation supervisors, ticket booking clerks and some senior commercial officers as uneconomical for the railways and inconvenient for ministry, however, has justified the decision, saying less than one-fourth of the total number of waiting passengers get confirmed berths on an average and the 25 per cent cap has been placed in view of that."The decision was made after meticulously studying the waiting list confirmation pattern," said Dilip Kumar the Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board He highlighted that earlier, there was an allegation that the Railways allowed a lot of passengers to book berths in the waiting category which led to crowding in trains. "It was also alleged that the Railways earned money on ticket cancellation."Refuting the charge, Kumar stressed the Railways was more concerned about passenger comfort than monetary Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) implemented the 25 per cent cap decision on June 16 for trains with reservation facilities. This come around two months after the ministry, through a circular, conveyed its decision on the matter to all principal chief commercial managers and the CRIS managing April 17 circular stated, "The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that the maximum current waiting list limit will be revised to 25 per cent of the redefined capacity of each class available at originating as well as roadside stations."It added, "This logic will also be applicable for issuing of waitlisted tickets from remote locations as well as tickets booked under Tatkal scheme. This waiting list limit shall, however, not be applicable to the tickets issued on concessional fares, warrants etc."The circular directed CRIS to "make necessary modifications in the software and inform the date of effect to all zonal Railways".Railway officials said such a cap was in place earlier as well but more and more people were allowed to reserve seats/berths in the waiting to a 2013 circular, the waiting list cap on AC/EC and 2 AC classes was 30 and 100 respectively. Similarly, the first class, 3AC/Chair Car and sleeper class had 30, 300 and 400 waiting limits, a week after the implementation of new waiting norms, a section of experts as well as reservation officials termed the decision "impractical"."Waiting lists give a demand trend based on which we make decisions to run special trains. How will we do it now when the waiting lists of all trains will be capped at 25 per cent?" said a retired senior railway commercial officer who termed waiting lists valuable data to make future supervisors said there have been cases in which due to bulk cancellations, trains departed with some available seats and despite giving confirmed berths to all waiting list passengers, some remained vacant causing a loss to the Railways."On one hand seats/berths remain vacant and on the other needy people are unable to travel," a supervisor said."Agents often do bulk booking on routes high on demand. They go for cancellations before 48 hours of a train's departure so that they have to pay just the nominal cancellation charges. In such cases, there is a high possibility that availability of seats/berths will be created before the train's departure," another reservation supervisor added, "This will create opportunities for brokers and touts operating at the current booking window at stations to mint money for passengers as they have prior information of berth positions due to their nexus with lower-level ticket booking staff."Some experts wondered how the Railways arrived at the 25 per cent cap for roadside stations where the berth quota is two or three seats and supposed that it was decided randomly."It is an ill-conceived decision to minimise the perception of crowding in trains by capping the waiting limits. Even if the aim of it is to minimise crowd in AC classes, it will not help as a prospective passenger can buy a general counter ticket and travel in AC classes. Normally, E-ticket waiting list passengers do the same," a senior commercial officer added, "The Railways should introduce more trains on busy routes rather than bringing all these measures to hide actual demand of travellers."
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Viktor Gyokeres 'officially rejects' Manchester United as Arsenal 'prepare second bid'
Viktor Gyokeres has "officially" rejected Manchester United and a reunion with former Sporting head coach Ruben Amorim, after Arsenal reportedly made their interest clear. That's according to Portuguese outlet Record, who report on Saturday morning that United have been made aware of Gyokeres' decision to snub a move to Old Trafford after talks with the player's agents. Advertisement LIVE BLOG: All the latest transfer news and rumours With Sporting demanding at least €70million (£59.6m) to begin negotiations over a fee, Record express doubts United could afford to sign Gyokeres ahead of the likes of Arsenal. United have already spent £62.5m on Matheus Cunha and hope to also add Bryan Mbeumo, who could cost even more with Tottenham now in the mix. 'The footballer's agents have officially told Ruben Amorim's club that he is no longer an option for the striker,' Record reports. 'United made several contacts over the last week, as we wrote, but with Arsenal's advance, this possibility lost strength and, in the last few hours, it has fallen away completely. (London Standard) 'The Red Devils made an offer to the Swede but did not present arguments capable of convincing him. Gyökeres prefers Arsenal, who are preparing a second offer, after Sporting rejected 55+10. Advertisement 'Although they had not completely ruled out United up until this stage, the player's representatives never considered the Manchester club as a priority option.' Arsenal are now thought to be clear favourites to sign Gyokeres, though the club retain interest in Benjamin Sesko for their vacant striker spot. The Gunners and RB Leipzig have been in talks for some time over a deal before reports of a rejected bid for Gyokeres emerged. A second bid is now reportedly incoming from Arsenal.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jude Bellingham & Arda Güler send online messages to Real Madrid teammate
Two members of the first-team ranks at La Liga giants Real Madrid have this week forwarded public messages of well wishes to teammate David Alaba. This comes after the Austrian celebrated his latest birthday. Advertisement Defender Alaba is for his part currently in the midst of a fresh spell on the sidelines. This comes owing to a meniscus injury suffered in his left knee back in April, which has kept the former Bayern Munich man out of action ever since. On Tuesday, Alaba, in turn, was afforded a rare recent reason to celebrate, upon turning 33 years of age. And as alluded to above, keen to commemorate the occasion were two of the stopper's youngest teammates. Midfielder Jude Bellingham first took to Instagram to write: 'Happy birthday big bro! Legend' And as much was soon followed by a further IG post on the part of Arda Güler, who also unveiled a photo of he and Alaba, tagging his teammate alongside a series of birthday emojis: Conor Laird – GSFN
Free Malaysia Today
19 minutes ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Even with Syed Saddiq, Muda comeback at GE 16 unlikely, say analysts
Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was acquitted of abetting corruption, misappropriation of funds and money laundering by the Court of Appeal earlier this week. PETALING JAYA : Muda is unlikely to stage a comeback in the next general election, even with Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman at the helm following his recent acquittal on corruption charges, analysts say. They say the party, founded five years ago, has missed its opportunity. Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said Muda was at its peak in the year before the 15th general election (GE15), which was held in November 2022. 'They were hot in 2021 but now people don't seem to remember them. 'They missed the opportunity to attract voters because they lost momentum,' she told FMT. Syaza Shukri. Syaza said Muda has struggled to project a clear identity or establish its purpose. 'People don't know exactly what Muda is fighting for. Right now, it feels more like an NGO,' she said. Syaza also believes Muda suffers from an image problem, largely appearing to be a 'one-man party'. There appears to be a lack of trust in Muda's ability to become an effective third force, she added. Explaining the difference between how Muda and PKR functioned when their respective leaders were confronted with legal jeopardy, Syaza said that in PKR's case, other leaders stepped up to lead when current prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was twice incarcerated. 'Muda tried to do the same with acting president Amira (Aisya Abdul Aziz) but that has not been enough,' she added. Syed Saddiq relinquished his post at the helm of the party after he was convicted by the High Court of abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering. On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal unanimously acquitted the Muar MP of all charges. Muda needs veterans and an ally Azmi Hassan. Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Muda's strategy of positioning itself from the onset as a platform for disillusioned voters across the political divide, has failed to materialise. 'When Muda was first established, it was to attract younger voters, not specifically from Pakatan Harapan, but from across the board. That was their strategy,' he said when contacted by FMT. However, he noted that Muda failed to resonate with younger, disillusioned voters – particularly among the non-Malays. Azmi said the party may want to reconsider its approach to remain relevant, adding that it needs more than just young leaders. Muda needs a strong ally, he said\ – either Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Barisan Nasional (BN). However, Azmi said both coalitions may be hesitant to collaborate with Muda, fearing the party may not bring sufficient strategic value to the table. James Chin of the University of Tasmania said Syed Saddiq's acquittal presents Muda with an opportunity to rebuild its image. James Chin. 'Muda was able to attract a lot of young people, including many youths from the Chinese community. But what happened was a lot of young people moved away after Syed Saddiq was charged with corruption, including the Malays,' he said. 'Now that he has been discharged by the courts, if he goes back to working with the party, I believe he will be able to recover lost ground.' However, Chin said the party's biggest hurdle remains seat negotiations with potential allies. 'Everything will depend on how well they do. The biggest problem they face is to get PH to give them seats to contest. In the last round, they won only one seat (in Muar).' Chin said that Muda should be given a chance as Syed Saddiq is still capable of attracting young people from across all ethnic groups.
The Hindu
19 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
IND-W vs ENG-W: England hosts India in 1st T20I with World Cup on horizon
This is India's first T20 assignment of the year, and the return of all-rounder Sneh Rana (in pic) and fast bowling all-rounder Amanjot Kaur will be keenly watched
