Late by 13 hours, but still ahead of time!

That's the story of two students who travelled on the Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express from Mumbai to Delhi, as the railways kept announcing till the last minute that the train was late by 33 hours

Indian Railways have a unique sense of time. Most of us already know that. But the department manages to surprise even the best from time to time. On the 2nd of January, two students of Amity University boarded the Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express from Mumbai for Delhi.u00a0

Noida residents Vidushi Singh and Monalisa Deka boarded train number 12907 on Sunday afternoon. They had planned their journey so that they could reach Delhi on Monday afternoon and could attend evening classes. But they arrived 13 hours too late. More importantly they were shocked to get the information that all the while the railways had been announcing that the train was running late by 33 hours.u00a0

Both M.tech students had gone to Mumbai too see their parents during the winter break. "We especially boarded this train as it is among the best plying on the route and it reaches Delhi at around 1.30 pm. So we could have gone for our evening classes," said Vidushi Singh.

But the horror started when the train crossed Vadodara, where it was diverted to Ujjain and Nishatpura due to the Gujjars' agitation in Rajasthan.

"Passengers were not informed about the diversion as it took place late at night. It was only in the morning that we were told that the train will reach late as it had been rerouted. Shockingly no one on the train, from employees in pantry car to coach attendants had any information. We kept asking for updates and time of arrival but all in vain," said Vidushi.

Not just the passengers, even their relatives were harassed as they were allegedly misguided while keeping track of the train's movements. "Our parents could not sleep as the customer care and the website till the last moment kept saying that the train was 33 hours late and would reach Delhi at 2300 hours on January 4.

But the train reached here at 2.30 am on January 4. As no information was available, my relatives had to call me again and again to locate my position," explained Monalisa. Naturally, other passengers on the train had to share the same fate.u00a0

Fogged out

The Railways are still struggling to find a way to beat the fog that has wrought havoc on the operation of trains this winter too, in the north of the country. Unlike last year when train collisions caused by the fog claimed several lives, there has been no accident so far this year. But the fog led to the cancellation of almost 100 trains, diversion of as many and short termination of 50 others in the past 10 days. This came at a time when the Railways bore the brunt of the Gujjar agitation for job reservation that resulted in the cancellation of at least 75 trains, short termination of 40 and diversion of 180 trains. After last year's bad experience, the Railways promised to put an effective mechanism in place. But their efforts did not yield any result. In August last, the Railways expected to fit all locomotives running in the fog-affected areas with a reliable GPS-based safety device. They intended to buy 1,400 pieces at an estimated cost of Rs.5 crore. The prototype submitted by one supplier failed to meet the technical requirements; 37 devices of another supplier are still being tested in the Ambala division of Northern Railway.
The Railways are yet to fulfil another promise: an anti-collision device, which is not meant to tackle foggy weather but useful in averting collisions, of which there were many last winter.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels