Upset over the absence of a sleeper-class coach, and the last-minute addition and conversion of another coach to a general bogie, passengers of the Delhi-Ernakulam Duronto Express took to the tracks in protest at the Nizamuddin railway station on Saturday night.
The passengers were accommodated into other coaches after railway officials and the Railway Protection Force (RPC) intervened, but the train had been delayed by three hours by then.
The Railways cited safety issues as the reason why the coach was removed.
Passengers unhappy
According to the passengers it was not the cancellation but the initial response from the Railway staff that was agonising. They highlighted that most of those who asked to be accommodated in the general compartment with lesser facilities were women and children.
Around 9 p.m., some passengers approached senior Railway officers when they could not find the S-5 coach of the Kerala-bound train. The passengers alleged that the senior officer at the station did not respond. Instead, he reportedly offered a suggestion that was impractical.
“When we arrived at the station, we were surprised to see that there was no S5 coach. We reported the matter to the staff at the station who advised us to write to the Railway ministry officials. They said no last-minute arrangements could be made. After this, we sat on the tracks and refused to move till senior officials came,” said Vikaspuri resident Ashok Kumar who had come to see off his sister and mother.
The next few hours passed with the train not moving an inch. Later, the passengers were offered another coach. Those who travelled in this new coach were promised a refund of the fare difference.
Some passengers, however, refused to board the train as it was a general coach instead of a sleeper coach.
Mr. Kumar said it was after more than one-and-a-half hour that an officer came to listen to the passengers. Personnel from the RPF and the Government Railway Police (GRP) had to be called to prevent the situation from spiralling out of hand.
Glitch
“We were compelled to attach the general coach as last-minute examination of the rakes brought to notice a glitch that could have hampered the security of the passengers. Those who agreed to travel in the general coach were promised a refund of the fare difference, while the others were adjusted in available vacant berths,” said Neeraj Sharma, a spokesperson for the Northern Railway.
When asked why the passengers were not informed, Mr. Sharma said the problem was noticed only after the charts were prepared. However, the passengers’ troubles seem to be far from over as they have been booked under Section 174 of The Railways Act, 1989, said RPF Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Shashi Kumar.
