Travails of a train traveller

Sir,

I had booked a seat on Train No.16215 (Chamundi Express) Chair Car to travel from Mysuru to Bengaluru on 21.2.2019. However, when I arrived at the Railway Station at about 6.30 am to get into the coach and take my seat, I was surprised to find that there was no information on the reserved bogies and coaches. There was no official to guide passengers who had booked their tickets on Chair Cars.

Passengers were just rushing in and occupying seats as they desired and there was no distinction between reserved and unreserved and as a result chaos was prevailing.

When I tried to contact the official at one of the counters, I was asked to contact the TC. But there was no sight of the TC from one end of the train to the other. Finally, I had to get into an unreserved bogie and travel to Bengaluru with all the consequences.

As the train proceeded, more and more passengers were rushing in specially between Mandya and Maddur, making it extremely difficult to travel.

It is a disgrace that at such an important junction as Mysuru, the SWR authorities are so callous and apathetic to the problems and woes of the passengers. It is the bounden duty of the authorities concerned to clearly notify the reserved bogies (on Chair Cars) and also to make available authorised staff to help and guide passengers on reserved bogies to get into the right bogies and occupy their seats. The SWR authorities owe an explanation for their lapses, negligence and the inconvenience caused to passengers.

– M. Jameel Ahmed, Yadavagiri, 22.2.2019