HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, July 26: The Northeast Frontier Railway has provided the facility of STBA (Station Ticket Booking Agent) at 75 stations spreading over all the five divisions. This facility has been provided considering safety related responsibilities of train operation staff and at stations where shortage of ticket booking staff prevails. STBAs are engaged to sell unreserved train tickets through computerised Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS).
At present, out of 75 functioning STBA within NF Railway, 11 are at Katihar division, 14 are at Alipurduar division, 18 are at Rangiya division, 20 are at Lumding division and 12 are at Tinsukia division. Engagement work of STBA at more stations across this zone, where ASMs/booking clerks/reservation staff are issuing tickets presently, is in various stages of progress.
The STBAs are authorised to issue all types of non-concessional unreserved tickets issued through UTS including platform tickets and season tickets, on cash basis only. These agents get commission on a monthly basis on the sale of tickets made by them. The initial contract period for STBA varies from one to three years depending on the categories of stations.
Introduction of STBA has proven to be of great help to facilitate passengers of small, remote stations to purchase authorised journey tickets at ease from these agents. Engagement of such agents will help employment generation for local youths. The system also helps station masters to devote more time to train operation, thus improving safety and punctuality.
