THE CHAIRMAN of the Railway Board on Monday belted out a long and boring list of achievements of Railways. He, however, chose to give the plight of the passengers, packed like sardines, in general compartments a cool go-by.
R K Singh, on a visit to the city, harped on achievements ranging from considerable increase in revenue to developing anti-collision devices. However, he failed to comprehend the plight of passengers in unreserved compartments for whom a journey was nothing less than ‘suffering.’
The situation is worse in long-distance trains, where they have to accommodate themselves in toilets and perch themselves precariously on footrests.
“Yes the problem is serious,” admitted the CRB.
“We have been trying to ease the problem by introducing many special trains, about 2500 in peak seasons,” he said.
“This summer we have introduced 1500 coach trips,” said Singh. The Railways also intends to increase the number of trains like Jansadharan, which would comprise general compartments only, stated the CRB.
About the poor quality of food served even in trains like Swarna Shatabdi and Kushi Nagar, he ordered an inquiry into the complaints. It was brought to the notice of the CRB that passengers of the New Delhi-bound Shatabdi Express had complained about serving fungus-infected bread and other eatables on trains.
{{/usCountry}}About the poor quality of food served even in trains like Swarna Shatabdi and Kushi Nagar, he ordered an inquiry into the complaints. It was brought to the notice of the CRB that passengers of the New Delhi-bound Shatabdi Express had complained about serving fungus-infected bread and other eatables on trains.
{{/usCountry}}ingh was cited an example of the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brother-in-law’s complaint against the food served in Rajdhani Express. The board has reacted immediately and ordered an inquiry into the matter.
On checking the high and mighty from misusing travel coupons, the CRB said that there was concession given to high and mighty and everybody was treated equally.
He said the Railways was coming up with a number of schemes including the Frequent Traveler Scheme, more computer-friendly systems like MIS data-base etc.