p>STARTING October 1, five railway lines have began using electronic hole punchers to mark tickets as passengers enter trains. The machines are part of the self-service dispatch system (SVS), the SITA newswire wrote.
“The passenger is obliged to enter the train with a valid ticket, bought in advance, and slide it into the machine, which will perforate it,” Miloš Čikovský, the spokesman for the ŽSSK railway company, told SITA.
The lines that now use SVS include the Tatras Electrical Railways (TEŽ), Rack Railway Štrba - Štrbské Pleso (OŽ), Trenčín Electric Railway (TREŽ), the line from Spišské Vlachy to Spišské Podhradie, and the line from Žilina to Rajec.
“The tickets will be checked by random inspections rather than train attendants,” Čikovský said. “Any passenger riding without a valid ticket will pay the price of the ticket and a fine. This includes children under 15, those with a valid disabled person’s certificate, and dog owners.”
The fines range from Sk500 (€16.60) to Sk1,000 (€33.19).
