What are/were Edmondson card tickets like in India? Are they still used?

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What are/were Edmondson card tickets like in India? Are they still used?

July 17, 2019, 2:27 PM

Until a few years ago, the mainstay of IR’s ticketing were the Edmondson tickets* which were issued manually (machine-punched or even hand-written in some cases) for all train journeys, reservations, etc. Indian Edmondson tickets show(ed) a fair bit of variation. Apart from the expected information such as the endpoints of the journey, the date, distance, class, and fare, tickets were often colour-coded to indicate the class of travel or the issuing zonal railway. (Note that the date was usually stamped or indented by a punch machine while the other details were pre-printed on the cards.) The zone is usually indicated by initials (e.g., ‘N.R.’) on the back of the ticket, and security markings of various sorts may be found on the front and back forming a background for the other printed text.

White card stock was used for the reservation tickets to go along with the journey tickets, before journey-cum-reservation tickets were introduced. Other kinds of tickets issued included platform tickets, supplementary charge tickets (for superfasts, etc.), retiring room tickets, and tickets against warrants for military personnel. For journeys crossing zonal railway boundaries, a red wavy stripe was often printed on the ticket to indicate the ‘foreign’ nature of the travel, a legacy of the time when such travel indeed meant going through more than one railway company’s territory.

In addition, reservation confirmation, cancellations, and other such documents issued on Edmondson card stock often had different colours or special backgrounds. Sleeper card tickets were pink; AC-3T were light blue; and First Class tickets were generally a leafy green colour. (These may not have been standard across zones.) WR’s Mumbai suburban card tickets were printed on yellow, blue, and pink stock. Edmondson tickets in India are often not punched or cut to indicate cancellation or use; instead the ticket checker often just puts his initials on the tickets.

There are many interesting aspects of Edmondson tickets that were issued in India. In some places, e.g., on the Mumbai suburban system, station names are not printed in full; only the the codes are shown. Also, the origin and destination shown are the outer limits of the zone for travel in which the ticket is valid, not the actual end-points of travel. Return tickets in two halves, each retained by a ticket collector at either end, are or were issued only in some places; examples are the MG EMU system in Chennai, at Mumbai and other big stations, etc.

Card stock used at some stations, especially the small and less busy ones, can be really old, so that the tickets may be issued even 15 or 20 years after the stock was printed. This can mean that the prices shown are extremely out of date; in some cases even the names of stations may have changed. E.g., a Second Class Ordinary (passenger) train ticket from Jamnagar to Aliyavada could be obtained recently [2004], printed on stock from 1980, with a preprinted price of 55 paise (although the current price is Rs 7), and showing a distance of 15km (it’s now 19km following the change in alignment after gauge conversion in 1984).

Also recently [2004], a ticket could be obtained for a journey from Hadmatiya to Khambaliya, printed on card stock from 1976 (!) which has both stations named with ‘Jn’ after their names, as they used to be junctions 30 years ago. Following the recent creation of new zones, card tickets can often be found [12/04] with the old zonal indications; e.g., a second class ticket from Khurja Jn (NCR, previously NR) to Delhi (NR) has the security diamond markings of NR, yet carries the horizontal wavy stripe indicating a ‘foreign’ journey across zones.

Read more about Edmondson tickets in India.

(*) Edmondson tickets: This is the name given to tickets issued on card stock, with a preprinted or machine-punched serial number, invented by Thomas Edmondson of Lancaster, UK, in the 1830s as a means of preventing fraud and making the job of ticket-checking less onerous for the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in the UK. They became very popular on all UK railways, and spread from there to railways around the world and of course to railways in India. Typically they were printed on card stock about 0.8mm thick, and the standard size was about 57.5mm x 30mm.

Cardboard Edmondson tickets are still to be found, issued at smaller wayside stations, on remote branch lines, etc., and often only for unreserved travel. Upper class tickets in card form are especially hard to find for mail/express trains now [12/04] because these trains often do not stop at the small wayside stations that still issue card tickets, or if they do, they only have a small quota for lower class accommodations.

Platform tickets are still issued on card stock at many stations, including those of NR, SER, CR, etc., where they are usually on white stock. SER card platform tickets have additional security markings. New Delhi and Delhi Jn. currently [12/04] issue card platform tickets. An interesting aspect of card platform tickets issued at some places like New Delhi and Delhi Jn. is the indication on the tickets of the specific point of issue, e.g., the Main Gate, East Hall (at Delhi Jn.), or even the specific counter of issue (Window 1, Window 2, etc. – Jamnagar, although this appears to have stopped now [12/04]).

Source – IFRCA.org

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