After the Indian Railways launched 139 for full-fledged train inquiry system, local landline telephones at railway stations appear to have become mute.
The principal telephone number listed as Railway Enquiry Services for Mangalore Central Railway Station — 0824 2423137 — has been unresponsive for quite a few days, depriving people information about arrival and departure of trains and other related details.
Zainul Abideen, who often travels by train to and from Mangaluru, said that the Central station’s telephone number was dysfunctional. Though the number dialled was correct, he got the reply,
“This telephone number is temporarily out of order.” He personally checked the telephone instrument at the Railway Station on March 29. Some staff suggested that he utilise the services of 139. But he said obtaining details through 139 involves a cumbersome process and not everyone would be comfortable using that number.
Moreover, people frequently using one particular station would have got used to dialling the landline number to get the required information, he said.
A senior official with the Southern Railway admitted that the telephone had not been working for quite a few days. Apparently, the telephone bill was not paid after 139 was commissioned. He promised that the number would be restored soon.
This practice appears to be in vogue at several railway stations, a BSNL official said. He said that when they attended to complaints regarding non-working telephone connections at a few railway stations, the problem was more likely to do with issues such as staff shortage than a technical fault.
