There is a growing trend taking place at the Shar Shechem light rail stop in Yerushalayim. According to a Hamodia report, train security officials confirm that Arab scalpers often approach riders getting off at that stop, usually non-Jews and tourists, asking for their tickets.
A rider’s ticket is good for getting on and off the light raid and city bus for 90 minutes from the time of purchase, but it is not transferable. However, they do not care and they have begun selling the tickets to tourists who are unsuspecting. They are paying too much for the tickets, at times 40 NIS, simply because they are naïve or afraid as they are harassed.
Train officials’ add the ticket is illegal since it is not transferable, adding there are machines to purchase ride tickets at the Shar Shechem stop, but that does not prevent the Arabs from hawking their tickets to turn a quick profit.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Send in a few undercover cops to catch the crooks in the act.
1. A scalper is someone who sells a ticket at a premium since they become unavailable through normal outlets, e.g. tickets to a concert or ball game that are sold out. These are not “scalpers”.
2. This is common in any system with tickets that don’t get collected. It is easy to stop if the police wish to stop it. Given that tourism is a major industry in Israel, the police probably should stop it.
3. Ripping off tourists is common everywhere, and has nothing to do with ethnicty or religion (excluding most Hareidim, but that’s because we’re weird by the rest of the world’s standards).
That’s not a picture of the Shaar shechem train stop.