Hundreds of passengers travelling in Shramik Express staged protest and blocked the busy Delhi-Howrah rail route on Deen Dayal Upadhaya Station (earstwhile Mughalsarai) when they realised that the train was diverted to wrong route. Similar protest was witnessed when passengers complained to unhygienic condition in train and non-availability of water and food. “The authorities are treating us like animals. They do not know the route and made the train to pass through wrong route,” Manish Rai, a passenger said.
Around 1,200 passengers were travelling in a Shramik Express from Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) to Muzzafarpur (Bihar). On May 21 mid-night the train was stopped at the outer signal of the Pt Deen Dayal Upadhaya (PDDU) station. When it did not move for six hours, the passengers realised there is some mistake.
“Actually the train was diverted to a wrong track. As the train was to go to Muzaffarpur it should have been diverted to Varanasi instead it was diverted towards PDDU station in Chandauli district,” Manish said. “As it was night, passengers did not realise the mistake and thought that it was stopped at the outer because of non-availability of platform. In the morning we realised what actually had happened,” he said.
The passengers lost cool. They blocked the adjacent rail track by putting boulders on the track disrupting the movement of trains completely. Due to this, several other trains including Rajdhani Express and Special Shramik trains were delayed for hours.
Later, RPF personnel and senior Railway officers reached there and pacified the passengers and then the train was moved towards its destination.
It was second such mistake which came to light within two days. On Friday evening a Shramik Express from Panvel in Maharashtra to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh was held up at Vysnagar Halt - a railway station between Varanasi and PDDU junction.
“We waited for almost 10 hours. We asked the station master but he said he cannot allow the movement of train unless asked by the high officials. There is no movement of trains and still the shramik expresses are stalled. Why?,” asks Dhananjay.
The piqued passengers went on rampage damaging windowpanes of several coaches. Later they squatted on the railway tracks refusing to move. They left only after the railway police intervened and everyone on board was given a meal. The train later resumed its journey.
At the same Vyasnagar station, another Shramik Express train coming from Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) to Varanasi was also stopped for hours. Early this week another train scheduled to go to Jaunpur was also diverted towards PDDU instead of Varanasi Junction.
A few days back migrant workers from Gujarat to Bihar threw away the food served at Kanpur junction saying it was rotten. They said pooris served to them were hard “as if they were cooked 3-4 days back” complained the passengers.
Another incident was reported in Unnao, where passengers heading from Bengaluru to Bihar smashed windowpanes at a platform complaining about lack of food and water arrangements after the train made an unscheduled stop at the station. District Magistrate Unnao Ravindra Kumar said that directions have been given to station master to make adequate requirements for water at all platforms.