Beware of touts at Mumbai Central Rly station. Review on General Tips on Indian Railways

I was travelling from Mumbai to Baroda for Diwali, but did not have confirmed tickets

on any train. I was travelling on 16-Oct-09(Friday) evening. Even all the buses were

full.

I reached Mumbai Central Station about 4:15 PM and was looking at the train list, not

knowing what train to take. I was thinking of taking some day train so that even

without a reservation, I might be able to manage the travel.

I saw that the next train was at 18:50(Jaipur SuperFast) and decided to buy an open

ticket, so that I can go in general bogie. While near the ticket window, I saw lot of

touts. They were doing flourishing business right under the noses of policemen who

were walking nearby. I usually never buy from them, but I just thought if so many

people are buying from them, they might have some arrangement with the Rly booking

guys. I decided to give it a try, knowing fully well that I might be taken for a

ride. But given the rish, I was willing to take the risk.

And lo and behold - within no time, I had a guy promising me a berth in 3rd AC or 2nd

AC for 700 and 900 Rs respectively. After checking with him about the details, I was

assured that the ticket will be in my name. He took 900 Rs and asked me to fill the

regular reservation form. He then asked me to wait so that his associate can go n

deposit the form. After some minutes, he said its done and asked me to collect the

ticket at 6:15 PM(half an hour before the train leaves), as he said the current

reservation starts only 1 hour before the train leaves(which is a fact).

I still lingered nearby, just so that he does not vanish when the time comes. I saw 2

more people expressing doubts to that tout if he would run away with the cash and he

was assuring them.

At 6:15 PM, I found him and promptly asked for my tickets. He and his associate took

me to the scooter parking garage and asked me to pay 600 Rs more(some 390 Rs tatkal

charges and 200 Rs as his commission). On paying up, he gave me a coach numer and

seat number of 2nd AC coach and said he'll be back with a ticket in 15 minutes. At

6:30 PM, he came to the parking lot and handed me an open ticket worth 100 Rs(which

I was planning to buy anyway). He asked me to travel in general class till Dhaanu

Road and then to switch to 2nd AC for the coach and seat number he had given. He even

gave me the name of a TTE to meet. It was not a reserved ticket with my details, so I

instantly that something was all wrong. Still I decided to check out the TTE's name -

there were 2 TTE in AC coaches and I found them on the platform.I checked their names

and as I thought, there was no TTE by that name! I called up a friend in Mumbai

and he confirmed that it was a scam.

Anyway, then I stood in line and then took the 9:25 PM Golden Temple Express. The

general bogie was full, but I managed somehow. What surprised me was that such

instances must be happening all the time, but I've not come across any articles /

reviews about the same. I made a mental note to share my experience on mouthshut.com,

so that others are not cheated like I was.