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Tharoor slams 'lopsided focus' on Vande Bharat as 2.7 crore passengers denied train travel in FY 2022-23
More than 2.7 crore passengers could not travel by train in 2022-23 because of being waitlisted, indicating shortage of trains on busy routes in the country.
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Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday raised concern over the “lopsided focus” on semi-high-speed train Vande Bharat Express as 2.72 crore passengers were unable to travel with Indian Railways in the recently ended financial year after being waitlisted. The Railway Board, in its reply to an RTI query filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur, declared that bookings of 2.72 crore waitlisted passengers were automatically cancelled and ticket fares refunded. This number stood at 1.65 crore during the previous fiscal year.
In 2021-2022, a total of 1.06 crore PNR numbers, against which 1.65 crore passengers were scheduled to travel, were automatically cancelled.
Reacting to the report, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, “When are the long waitlists in the Indian Railways going to end? With 2.7 crore waitlisted passengers denied a confirmed seat, the year registered the largest number of tickets that remained waitlisted before they were automatically cancelled.”
He added, “This has been the trend, with every year breaking the previous record. Introduction of #VandeBharat is welcome but the lopsided focus on it is worrying. In our 75th year of Independence, a confirmed railway berth should no longer be merely about luck but a normal facility. The matter must urgently seize the Government's focused attention.”
The inability to provide confirmed tickets to passengers has been a recurrent problem with the national transporter.
The Railways has said it is making efforts to increase the capacity to make trains available on demand, reported PTI.
"This would reduce the possibility of passengers getting waitlisted," PTI quoted an official as saying.
Officials also pointed out that before the Covid pandemic, the Railways ran 10,186 trains, which has gone up to 10,678 trains at present.
"All over the network signalling and track work is ongoing. This is also being done so that more trains can be put into service," the official said.
(With PTI inputs)
