India: Viral video shows railway employee churning out 4 tickets in 10 seconds

Anbazhagan (67) a retired employee of the Indian Railways is now a social media star owing to his rapid-fire way of issuing tickets to passengers. His viral video shows Anbazhagan operating an Automative Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) in southern Indian city of Chennai. The senior citizen's deftness is handing out as many as 4 tickets in 10 seconds has taken netizens by surprise.

Anbazhgan worked for the railways for 33 years. He took up the job of ATVM facilitator after his retirement. This post is only allocated to retired railway personnel. Anbazhgan works mainly at Egmore station in Chennai. He has been working since 2015.

While the ATVM kiosks at railway stations are meant to be operated by passengers themselves (those with railway prepaid cards) themselves, facilitators often operate the kiosks and hand out the tickets.

"I have a prepaid card and every time a passenger asks for a ticket and tenders the exact change, I swipe the card, select the destination on the screen and handover the ticket" Anbazhagan told WION.

When asked how he manages to do the job with such speed and perfection, he said, "There are dozens of destinations to select on my selection screen, but I don't take that trouble. The ticket costs either Rs.5/10/15, so I select the last destination that one can travel to for that particular amount. Thereby, instead of selecting from dozens of locations, I only have to select from 3-4 stations on my screen".

Anbazhagan adds that he prefers to do his work while standing, as that makes it easier to carry out the task in a fast and comfortable manner.

Operating the ATVM kiosk during morning and evening peak hours, Anbazhagan manages to sell close to 1000 tickets every day, all of it in his inimitable style. A video of him at work having gone viral, has also prompted the Indian Railway authorities to felicitate and appreciate his services. The divisional railway manager of Chennai, identified him and awarded him a certificate of appreciation.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE