Indian Railways, often hailed as the lifeline of the nation, carries millions of passengers every day across vast and diverse terrains. It is affordable, accessible, and deeply woven into the fabric of India’s middle and lower-middle class.
But let’s be honest, for all its scale and utility, the system isn’t without flaws. One such persistent issue that keeps haunting Indian travelers is the black marketing of train tickets by agents and brokers.
Recently, this frustration was voiced publicly by a passenger named Ansari Shakir, who took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to air his concern.
His tweet tagged the Ministry of Railways directly, saying that tickets, especially in sleeper class, were being bought out and resold by brokers at nearly double the price. A ₹700 ticket was allegedly being sold for ₹1500 — and sadly, the “common man” had no option but to pay up under compulsion.
To their credit, Indian Railways responded swiftly. The official handle requested the user to share his contact details and station name privately, and also directed him to the RailMadad portal for quick grievance redressal. It’s good to see the system acknowledging complaints, but is that enough?
This isn’t a one-off incident. Every few weeks, we see similar complaints online or hear passengers at stations whispering about “agents” who have confirmed tickets when IRCTC shows waitlist. So what’s going wrong?
Well, Indian Railways is now taking a tech-driven approach to deal with this mess. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has started using artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect unusual ticketing patterns and block suspicious bookings. There are also talks about implementing biometric verification to make ticket purchasing more secure and authentic.
These are welcome steps, but the execution has to be watertight. If genuine passengers are still being forced to buy tickets in black while agents flourish, it raises serious questions. Technology alone won’t solve it — there must be stricter enforcement, real-time monitoring, and stronger penalties for repeat offenders.
At the end of the day, it’s about restoring faith in a system that’s meant to serve every Indian, not just those with access to brokers or extra cash. Let’s hope Indian Railways turns this moment of complaint into meaningful change — because everyone deserves a fair ticket to travel.