Passengers peeved at Shatabdi’s brief halt
Passengers of Shatabdi Express are facing tough time due to its very brief stoppage at the city railway station.Several persons have got injured at the time of stepping in and out from the train which halts for only two minutes at the city railway station.
Passengers of Shatabdi Express are facing tough time due to its very brief stoppage at the city railway station.Several persons have got injured at the time of stepping in and out from the train which halts for only two minutes at the city railway station.
On Thursday, Kiran Bala, a passenger who about step out of the train around 12.30 pm, fell down as the train started moving again before she could get down. She suffered injuries on her forehead.
Sometimes, the passengers even resort to pulling the chain to get the train stopped so that they can get down but to no avail.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Chiranjeev Setia, a local resident, said that one day as he could not get down the train, he pulled the chain in C-9 coach several times but the train did not stop. He said that he went to another coach, pulled the chain and only then, the train stopped. However, it had crossed the station by that time.
He alleged that when he complained to the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) Chaudhary Ajit Singh about the non-functioning chain, he behaved rudely.
“Not only the TTE, the staff at the city railway station also did not treat passengers fairly”, Chiranjeev said while adding that he would take up the matter with senior officials of the department.
He said, “I met the divisional railway manager (DRM) and complained to him about the whole incident and he assured me that stern action would be taken against the erring officials”.
The city residents have been demanding a longer stoppage of Shatabadi at the local station and had submitted several memorandums to higher authorities but to no avail.
When contacted, station superintendent Shamsher Singh Walia said, “I do not feel that there is any need to extend the train’s halt in Jalandhar. This is the responsibility of passengers to board or get down from the train within two minutes”.
