Northern Railways returns to Facebook with passenger, train info

Now, you can log on to Facebook to get real-time information on arrival and departure of trains, platform numbers and daily availability of seats, Darpan Singh reports.

Now, you can log on to Facebook to get real-time information on arrival and departure of trains, platform numbers and daily availability of seats.

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The Delhi division of Northern Railway has resumed its disabled Facebook page after Hindustan Times in February published a report, “Flooded with complaints, railways logs off FB.”

Passengers can get information regarding three railway stations in the Capital — Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin and New Delhi.

Divisional railway manager (Delhi) Anurag Sachan said, “Use of technology would provide information conveniently and save time. Passengers should make maximum use of this facility.”

“You must have a Facebook account. Type Delhi Division Northern Railway in the search box and click “About”. You will see two addresses. The first link (<http://122.252.248.147/MIC_nr/NR_DelhiDivn>) will give information on arrival/departure of trains and platform numbers,” he said.

“The second link (<http://122.252.145:8182/RW>) will have information on availability of seats/berths in all classes after the final charts have been prepared,” Sachan said.

First launched about two years ago on March 8, 2011, for passenger feedback and to ensure better facilities, the Facebook page had gradually become a one-way traffic. Faced with a barrage of complaints, the authorities stopped responding on the page.

A set of railway officials was supposed to update the page on an hourly basis. People uploaded pictures, shared links and posts. But the railway authorities cited “technical reasons” and “disabled” the page to avoid “negative publicity.”

“The daily footfall of passengers at railway stations in Delhi alone is 10 lakh. A lot of people these days use social media. It was a vital source of feedback. But we needed competent people for real-time redress. We couldn’t cope with the outpour,” admitted a railway official.

“There was some technical problem. We have revived the public forum. We needed some experts to run the page who can understand people’s problems and respond to them in an effective manner,” the official said.