"Discounts available, but no tickets" — students frustrated by lack of discounted train tickets

On December 10, Uzbekistan Railways introduced a 50% discount on local passenger train tickets for students of higher education institutions nationwide, valid from December 23 to January 10, 2025. However, as of December 11, the online ticket platform "eticket.railway.uz" showed that all tickets for the Tashkent–Urgench, Tashkent–Bukhara, and Tashkent–Nukus routes from December 23 to 31 were sold out.

Students interviewed by Kun.uz confirmed that no tickets were available for these dates and routes. Some students managed to purchase discounted return tickets but were unable to secure tickets for their departure.

"We checked online, and there were no tickets, so we had to come to the ticket office in person," said one student. Another student explained they came to the station to find out if additional carriages would be added, as they couldn’t get discounted tickets.

"For the Tashkent–Andijan route, no tickets are available from December 25 to 31, but there are tickets for the Tashkent–Kokand route," said one of the students.

When Uzbekistan Railways announced the discounts, students were told they needed to present their passports at the ticket office to purchase discounted tickets. However, students interviewed by Kun.uz mentioned that, in addition to their passport, they were also asked to provide a certificate confirming their enrollment and permanent registration. One student noted that a student ID was sufficient.

A student traveling to Termez reported that tickets for December 31 were sold out, but there were return tickets available for January 2025. Students also expressed frustration with the quality of service at the ticket offices, noting it took an average of one hour to purchase a single ticket.

"I had already bought my ticket before the discounts were announced. Now, I wanted to get half of the ticket price refunded, but they told me that wasn't possible," said one student.

Kun.uz reached out to the press service of Uzbekistan Railways regarding the ticket shortage. They explained that the unavailability of tickets was due to high demand from students. They also mentioned that the exact number of discounted tickets allocated for the winter break was unclear. Further information regarding additional carriages and expected seat availability would be provided in a few days.

It is worth noting that during the 2023 winter break, Uzbekistan Railways only announced discounts for students after tickets had almost completely sold out.