Delayed train reportedly leaves before time; passengers stranded
Delayed train reportedly leaves before time; passengers stranded
If you are planning to travel by train in this foggy winter, be careful while trusting the Railway information system and its website that provides information of delayed trains. There are chances your train may either be delayed beyond expectation or may leave before time.
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Race against time: Heavy fog in Delhi has thrown train schedules off track |
Train delays
On January 2, 62-year-old AB Lal missed his train to Varanasi because it allegedly left the station before the scheduled time of departure.
A resident of Ghaziabad, Lal along with his wife and daughter had booked AC three-tier tickets in Kashi Vishwanath Express. The scheduled departure of the train - as mentioned in the ticket was 12.20 pm. But after reaching the Ghaziabad station the family was reportedly informed the train had been delayed by four hours.
Lal, working with Cellcome Tele-services, was travelling to attend a family function in Varanasi.
"We returned home as we live near by. An hour later the Indian Railway website informed us the train had been further delayed by six hours. Few more hours later, we got to know through the Railway SMS service that the train will depart at 8.20 pm, almost eight hours behind the scheduled time," said Lal.
Train leaves before time
However, the family was shocked when it reached the station. "We reached the station at 7.30 pm and came to know the train had already left for Varanasi at 7 pm. I knew commuters suffer because of delayed trains but we were stranded by a train that left for its destination almost one-and-half-hour early," said Lal.
Next day, the family paid Rs 4,500 to book fresh tickets, while there was no news of refund of the earlier tickets. "On the intervening night of January 2 and 3, we kept trying the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) website to cancel our tickets. We finally managed to cancel the tickets the next day but we were refused a refund as the train had already left for its destination," said Lal.
He finally got half of the ticket money back.
However, Lal is not the only one who is suffering because of delayed trains and alleged faulty Railway information service. "Our train was supposed to leave at 4.10 pm but it got delayed first by three hours and then by six hours. We kept trying the IRCTC website but there was no updated information available," said Manju Dutta, waiting at Nizamuddin Railway Station to take the Garib Rath to Madhubani in Bihar on Tuesday.
| The Other Side |
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'Train drivers have strict instruction to follow a speed limit of 30 kmph.
The problem arises as trains get further delayed and people are left waiting at stations,' said Northern Railway Chief Public Relation Officer Anand Swarup. He claimed no knowledge of any train leaving before schedule. |
