Tejas Exp passengers to get compensation for 1-hr delay

The Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to provide ₹63,000 as total compensation to around 630 passengers of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express due to a delay in the operation of the outstation private train on Wednesday.

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Each passenger will get ₹100 as recompense for the one-hour delay of the outstation train.

Tejas Express, the second privately-operated train of Indian Railways began commercial operations earlier this week between Mumbai Central and Ahmedabad railway stations. On its Wednesday journey between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, it was delayed over an hour due to a failure on the western railway (WR) line.

Train services were delayed due to a problem with the overhead wires between Bhayandar and Mira Road railway stations. The outstation train that was scheduled to arrive at Mumbai Central at 1.10pm arrived at 2.35pm.

The express was further delayed by two minutes after a few passengers insisted the IRCTC halt the train at Andheri railway station as they wanted to head to the Mumbai airport.

“Close to 879 passengers were travelling on the train. However, the issues occurred in Mumbai, when close to 630 passengers were still on-board. The train was delayed by 1 hour, 20 minutes due to the failure on the western railway line. The compensation amount will be given to all these passengers,” said an IRCTC spokesperson.

The passengers will have to claim the compensation for the delay by contacting the call centre at 18002665844 or via email to irctcclaims@libertyinsurance.in.

IRCTC had introduced compensation for passengers of the privately-operated outstation trains in case of delays. Passengers will be eligible for a compensation of ₹100 if the train is delayed for over an hour and ₹250 if the train is delayed for more than two hours.

Passenger associations have stated that the compensation only for Tejas Express passengers is unfair. “The Railways should value the time of other passengers as well and not just Tejas Express. There is no such facility for other premium trains including Rajdhani and August Kranti,” said Lata Argade, vice-president, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.