Photo of platform ticket morphed to claim Adani owns Pune Junction Railway Station

A picture of a railway platform ticket has been going viral on social media. The image shows a platform ticket from the Pune Junction railway station priced at Rs 50. The text on it reads, “Adani Railway. The railways are now our private property.” A number of false claims about the Adani Group have been recently circulating against the backdrop of the farmers’ protest. A user with the display name Neetu Ambedkarwadi shared this image of the ticket in a now-deleted tweet.

A Facebook user also posted the picture. (Archive link)

The viral image is widespread on Facebook as well.

Fact-check

Actor Sushant Singh quote-tweeted Neetu Ambedkarwadi’s tweet and asked his followers if the picture is genuine or fake. In a reply to Singh’s tweet, a user shared another photo of the same ticket. Unlike the viral image, it did not say “Adani Railway” or “Railways are now our private property” anywhere.

A report by The Indian Express dated August 18 talks about the Pune Junction platform ticket now costing Rs 50. A Railway official confirmed that the price of the platform ticket was increased from Rs 10 on March 18. The article carries a tweet posted by a railway spokesperson which says that the price was hiked to prevent crowds from gathering at the station and adhere to social distancing norms.

पुणे जंक्शन द्वारा प्लेटफार्म टिकट का मूल्य ₹50 रखने का उद्देश्य अनावश्यक रूप से स्टेशन पर आने वालों पर रोक लगाना है जिस से सोशल डिसटेनसिंग का पालन किया जा सके।

रेलवे प्लेटफार्म टिकट की दरों को कोरोना महामारी के शुरुआती दिनों से ही इसी प्रकार नियंत्रित करता आया है। https://t.co/X2HuPC5HUg

— Spokesperson Railways (@SpokespersonIR) August 17, 2020

On March 17, Central Railways had also increased the prices of platform tickets of Mumbai, Pune, Bhusaval and Solapur from Rs 10 to Rs 50. The step was taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

#COVOD19 preventive measures.
Central Railway on its Mumbai, Pune, Bhusaval, Bhusaval and Solapur divisions increased the platform ticket from ₹10/- to ₹50/- till further advice.#BeAlert @RailMinIndia @drmmumbaicr @BhusavalDivn @drmcrngp @DrmSolapur @drmpune

— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) March 17, 2020

Therefore, a platform ticket of Pune Junction railway station was edited to suggest that the Adani Group has staked its claim over the Railways. In place of ‘Pune Junction’, the words ‘Adani Railway’ was added.