Many passengers could not board a Howrah-bound train after several ticketless or unauthorised people stormed the coaches and occupied reserved berths in Chennai on Tuesday night.
According to passengers who were stranded at the MGR Chennai Central station after they could not board the train, the unauthorised people had barged into the reserved compartments, thereby preventing passengers holding confirmed tickets from entering them.
“We went well in advance and waited for the train. Even as the empty rake was being rolled into the platform, many people got into the coaches. By the time the rake came to a halt, many Sleeper Class coaches were full,” Vinay Yadav of Howrah said.
He said the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and other railway staff in the platform could not help in any way. “A couple of our relatives who had to travel due to an exigency boarded the heavily crowded train. We are worried about their safety and well being. Railway authorities should have stopped the train and deployed security personnel to remove unauthorised people and accommodate bonafide passengers,” he said.
Mr. Yadav said he and his family members were stranded at the Chennai Central station as they were left with no place to stay or tickets to travel. “I don’t know whether railways will refund our money. We have been subjected to harassment and mental agony. Many passengers had to miss the train today like us,” he said.
Vignesh of Madurai, whose friends and relatives had come from West Bengal to attend a family wedding, said about 11 passengers, including women, with confirmed tickets could not board the S3 coach of the train.
Unauthorised travellers occupied all the reserved berths and placed their luggage in the walkway. “Dozens of people holding luggage stood near the doors blocking the way for passengers with confirmed tickets to enter. Such incidents are common in North India. Of late, we are seeing this happening in the Southern Railway frequently,” he said.
Railway staff at the station said it was difficult to stop the train and check each and every passenger whether they were having confirmed tickets or not. “Passengers found to be travelling without or waitlisted/unreserved tickets will be removed from the train by the TTE with the help of police,” a railway official said.
With no other option, some passengers decided to find buses to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam from where they hoped to find more trains to Howrah, the official who did not want to be quoted said.
When contacted, a spokesperson of the Southern Railway said, Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel were deployed in all platforms to prevent unauthorised persons from occupying reserved coaches. “We have not received any complaint from passengers on the issue so far. Had someone flagged the issue, the RPF personnel would have certainly assisted them in boarding the train,” he said.
