WR didn't send SMS updates during protest

Commuters who've registered for the free service were disappointed after they were stuck for hours on Wednesday with no information from WR's 'promised' facility

Six months back, Western Railway (WR) launched its SMS service, promising to provide commuters with all the latest updates that they require. But on Wednesday, when WR services were affected for over five hours, the over 56,000 subscribers did not get a single update on the situation.

Satish Kumar, a Mira Road resident who was stuck in the train for more than four hours, said, "What is the use of this service if WR doesn't provide us with updates? It would have been of great help. I only got the first message around 2 pm almost an hour after the services were restored."

Commuter Darshana Visaria, who registered for this service since its inauguration on August 14, 2008, is very unhappy. "This SMS update service is worthless. When we needed to be updated about the Wednesday's horrible situation, it was unavailable. An SMS at the right time would've stopped a lot of confusion and rumours," she said.

Promises

WR had promised that they will give commuters updates on mega blocks, train services affected, new services, ticketing facilities, etc, free of cost on local and outstation trains within the Western Railways jurisdiction. S S Gupta, spokesperson, WR, said, "We had no idea about the timing of the incidences. Instead of panicking the commuters, we were trying to solve the problem as soon as possible. We updated them in the evening, we don't bombard commuters with lots of SMSes."

Protesters to be charged for rioting

The thousands of protesters who blocked rail tracks on Wednesday after train services were disrupted for over five hours, will be charged under sections like rioting and destruction of Railway property. The police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the protesters. Nearly 30 people were detained.

Want WR's SMS updates?
To get yourself registered with WR's SMS service, text START WRUPDATES <STATION> to 56070. You will receive a confirmation-cum-welcome message from WR and the updates will start. In case you want to discontinue, SMS 'STOP WRUPDATES' to the same number. You will be charged only for sending the Start/Stop messages as per the service provider.