30 April,2007
PATNA: The railways recently introduced several pairs of special trains on the Patna-Delhi and other routes to cope with the peak summer rush. However, journey in these trains is proving to be a nightmarish experience for passengers. Besides being deprived of basic facilities, they also suffer from inordinate late running of trains. On April 26, the Rajendra Nagar Terminal-Sarairohilla Delhi summer special train (0415) left Patna Junction at 1 pm. It was supposed to reach Delhi at 5.30 am next morning. However, it reached Delhi at 3.30 pm, thus covering the distance between Patna and Delhi in about 27 hours. Normally, it takes 14-15 hours to cover the distance between Patna and Delhi by any mail or express trains. The railways had advertised the schedule of this particular train earlier, stating therein that it would have stoppages at Danapur, Ara, Buxar, Mughalsarai, Allahabad, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Shahadra, Delhi and Sarairohilla and that the journey would be covered in about 16 hours. A student, Arfat Ahmad, who was travelling in sleeper S-3 coach, said that his nightmarish experience started from the Patna Junction itself. Neither the coach indication board was functioning nor the reservation chart had been pasted on the train, he said, adding that he and other passengers boarded one of the coaches which some railway staff claimed to be S-3. “However, when the train reached Mughalsarai, the TTE on duty asked us to shift to some other coach, saying that we had boarded the wrong coach,” he added. Other passengers complained that the fans of the special train were out of order and that the train made about a hundred stoppages on one or the other pretext. They even had to suffer from hunger and thirst as no proper arrangement had been made in this regard. The aggrieved passengers said that the railways were giving step-motherly treatment to passengers boarding the summer special trains. Passengers travelling by 0421 Patna-Delhi summer special, 0235 Howrah-Dehradun summer special, 207 Guwahati-Delhi summer special and many other special trains had to face similar ordeal. They criticised the railways for running special trains without making proper arrangements. An ECR official said that these summer special trains were being run on the advice of the Railway Board on specific routes. He, however, assured to look into the complaints regarding the late running of trains and poor facilities for passengers. A board official told TOI that each summer special train has been allotted a separate path to run smoothly. The board would surely ensure that passengers are not deprived of the basic facilities, he said. Besides, detention for no valid reason would also be taken up with the division concerned, he added.
PATNA: The railways recently introduced several pairs of special trains on the Patna-Delhi and other routes to cope with the peak summer rush. However, journey in these trains is proving to be a nightmarish experience for passengers. Besides being deprived of basic facilities, they also suffer from inordinate late running of trains. On April 26, the Rajendra Nagar Terminal-Sarairohilla Delhi summer special train (0415) left Patna Junction at 1 pm. It was supposed to reach Delhi at 5.30 am next morning. However, it reached Delhi at 3.30 pm, thus covering the distance between Patna and Delhi in about 27 hours. Normally, it takes 14-15 hours to cover the distance between Patna and Delhi by any mail or express trains. The railways had advertised the schedule of this particular train earlier, stating therein that it would have stoppages at Danapur, Ara, Buxar, Mughalsarai, Allahabad, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Shahadra, Delhi and Sarairohilla and that the journey would be covered in about 16 hours. A student, Arfat Ahmad, who was travelling in sleeper S-3 coach, said that his nightmarish experience started from the Patna Junction itself. Neither the coach indication board was functioning nor the reservation chart had been pasted on the train, he said, adding that he and other passengers boarded one of the coaches which some railway staff claimed to be S-3. “However, when the train reached Mughalsarai, the TTE on duty asked us to shift to some other coach, saying that we had boarded the wrong coach,” he added. Other passengers complained that the fans of the special train were out of order and that the train made about a hundred stoppages on one or the other pretext. They even had to suffer from hunger and thirst as no proper arrangement had been made in this regard. The aggrieved passengers said that the railways were giving step-motherly treatment to passengers boarding the summer special trains. Passengers travelling by 0421 Patna-Delhi summer special, 0235 Howrah-Dehradun summer special, 207 Guwahati-Delhi summer special and many other special trains had to face similar ordeal. They criticised the railways for running special trains without making proper arrangements. An ECR official said that these summer special trains were being run on the advice of the Railway Board on specific routes. He, however, assured to look into the complaints regarding the late running of trains and poor facilities for passengers. A board official told TOI that each summer special train has been allotted a separate path to run smoothly. The board would surely ensure that passengers are not deprived of the basic facilities, he said. Besides, detention for no valid reason would also be taken up with the division concerned, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment