Passengers were left stranded at the Chennai Central Station as chaos ensued on Tuesday night when many ticketless or unauthorised travellers flooded a Howrah-bound train. Reports indicate that the situation made it nearly impossible to board the train, with individuals not only occupying reserved berths but also blocking walkways with their luggage.
According to The Hindu, all reserved berths were taken by unauthorised individuals who also placed their luggage in the walkway. Vinay Yadav from Howrah shared, “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 Coaches were already full.”
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He further expressed, “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 also noted the inability of the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and other railway staff on the platform to assist in any manner.
“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 ticketless people and accommodate bonafide passengers,” he lamented before mentioning that he and his family were stranded at Chennai Central as they had no place to stay or tickets to travel. “I am unsure if railways will refund our money. We have faced harassment and mental agony. Many passengers, like us, had to miss the train today,” he added.
Another witness, Vignesh from Madurai, whose friends and relatives had arrived from West Bengal for a family wedding, mentioned that about 11 passengers, including women, with confirmed tickets, were unable to board the S3 coach of the train.
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While railway staff at the station acknowledged the difficulty in stopping the train and checking each passenger for confirmed tickets, a Southern Railway spokesperson stated that Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel were deployed on all platforms to prevent unauthorised individuals from boarding 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,” the spokesperson said as quoted by the news organisation.
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