Mombasa,KENYA:Kenya Railways will soon include passenger details on the SGR train tickets in a bid to curb fraud and middlemen who are said to have frustrated customers booking tickets at the station.
In a newspaper notice sent out on Sunday, the corporation said it was in the process of revising its ticketing mode while introducing online ticketing services.
“We are also in the process of revising the ticket format, and we will soon be rolling out a new version of the tickets incorporating passenger’s details, thus addressing the issue of unscrupulous purchase and resale of the tickets at a premium,” the Kenya railways said in the statement.
“Kenya Railways would like to inform the members of the public that we acknowledge and take seriously the concerns raised about the mode of ticketing in use on the Madaraka Express Train Service,” Read another part of the statement.
There have been complaints from customers using the SGR which was launched by president Uhuru Kenyatta in early June.
Customers have to personally show up at the station and book 2 days in advance so as to get a ticket and that is not an assurance.
With an economy ticket going for sh.700, middlemen purchase the ticket for sh.700 and sell them for over sh 900. However, the corporation which has been urging customers not to buy the tickets from middlemen has revealed the steps its taking to address that.
“To address the concern, we are working to introduce other modes of payment as a top priority; this includes online ticketing. Mobile applications will also be considered as a component of the online module to address the situation.” Read the notice.
The notice comes a few days after 7 people were charged at a Mombasa court for selling SGR tickets without an authorization from the corporation.
