Railway employees and their family travel for free in trains? The answer will leave you in shock
Indian Railways Pass: Indian Railways has one of the largest rail networks in the world. It serves millions of passengers daily and takes them to their desired destination safely and comfortably. The Railways has a team of thousands of employees working in different departments. From ticket checkers and locomotive pilots to sweepers, these employees are the backbone of the Indian Railways. But has this question popped up in your mind: do families of these Railway employees buy tickets or travel free? Many people think that railway employees and their families can travel by train for free. But this is not completely true. Let's know more about it.
Do Railway Employees' Families Travel By Train For Free?
Indian Railways provides a pass facility to its employees. Rules and conditions of these passes differ by employees' grade. These railway passes allow employees and their families to travel without paying any fare. Notably, these passes have a validity period for a fixed time.
Facility Available After Five Years Of Service
These passes have certain terms and conditions. As per rules, employees have to pay for tickets to certain places. But, the passes allow free travel to employees and their families for a limited time period. According to a retired officer, after completion of five years of regular service, passes and PTOs (Privilege Ticket Orders) are issued to employees by the Indian Railways.
How Many Passes Does An Employee Get?
The Indian Railways employees get three free railway passes and four PTOs every year. Notably, employees are provided one set of passes before completing five years of service. On the contrary, these rules are different for officer ranks. The retired officers stated that the entire family can travel by free in trains with the railway pass. But employees have to pay one-third of the fare for traveling with a PTO (Concessional Ticket Order). The railway pass facility can be availed by – employee, his wife, children, and parents.
Railway Pass Validity
Railway passes and PTOs come with a validity of one year. When the validity of the pass and PTOs expires, the employee and his family have to pay full amount of the ticket like normal passengers.
In order to avail the pass or PTO facility, a railway employee has to issue it by submitting is railway ID, service certificate, and other necessary documents to the railway administration. Only family members whose names are listed in the employee's service book are eligible to receive this benefit.
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