It was shocking to read about national volleyball player Arunima alias Sonu Sinha who lost a leg after being thrown out of a running train. More shocking is the blame game that has started among political parties. The political class has once again decided to extract maximum mileage out of the incident. What have been forgotten in all this are the plight of Arunima and the issue of safety on trains.
Lt Col. Agnes Shanthi (retd.),
Chennai
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As someone who travels long distances, I wish to highlight the sharp decline in the quality of rail services. Long-distance trains have virtually become commuter services. As a result, a passenger who has a reserved ticket suffers the most. Reserved compartments have become overcrowded as all sorts of people are on the train. Apart from causing friction and frayed tempers, such situations result in unpleasant things happening.
Lakshmi Narayanan,
Chennai
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Nothing seems to have changed on trains even though it was not very long ago that a girl was brutally attacked on a running train and murdered in Kerala. How safe are passengers, especially women? In one case, a girl lost her life. Arunima has lost a limb. Can the payment of monetary compensation solve the victim's problem?
M. Ganesan
Thiruvananthapuram