11th August 2018.
The last stop of our heritage was the Edmondson
ticket printing press. It was told that the visitors were not allowed, and we are
the first batch allowed to peep in, maybe the last also. Special permission was
given by the Asst. General Manager of Southern Railway, and thanks to him.
These Edmondson tickets were introduced in the 1840s by the
British railways as a replacement for the handwritten receipts. This was
invented by Thomas Edmondson, who worked with the British rails. Initially, the
introduction of these types of tickets faced little restriction, but later this
was resolved. These tickets are 31x75x.75 mm in size. This system was
introduced in 1892 by the Southern Railway, and the printing press at Royapuram
was started in 1926 and completed its golden jubilee. In 1926, the staff was deputed to
the Madras Trade School when it started a separate printing press. The 1927 German-made printing machines are idle after retirement.
The high security Southern Railway watermark/monogram 192 tickets are printed on 500 GSM cardboard and cut to sizes through HMT-made cutting machines. The tickets contain the amount, the stations, and the class.
Serial numbers are punched manually. Different color boards are used for different
classes, like white, light green, light yellow, light brown, etc. The trilingual languages
are printed. 250 tickets are tied with a rope using a hand press. It was said that
15000 to 18000 tickets are dispatched per day. These tickets are issued for the local short-distance trains. The decision to close the press in 2017 was revoked in Feb 2018, due to the resistance of
employees. Since most of the jobs in the printing press are done manually and the issuing of computerized tickets, this printing press is on the verge of
extinction.
Apart from tickets, the press also prints timetables, reservation forms, books for Railways, etc. This is one of the ticket printing presses out of 5 presses functioning in India, and the other 4 are Byculla, Howrah, Shakurbasti, and Secunderabad.
Apart from tickets, the press also prints timetables, reservation forms, books for Railways, etc. This is one of the ticket printing presses out of 5 presses functioning in India, and the other 4 are Byculla, Howrah, Shakurbasti, and Secunderabad.
192
tickets printed on the board
bundling of 250 tickets
192 tickets are printed on a sheet
Individual tickets are cut
---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---
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