Passenger travels 600 km extra, crosses six states to reach Chennai , 48-hour train journey turns into 80-hour ordeal
Hundreds of trains pass through the station from North to South and a few East to West but a few major trains are manually received enroute at Itarsi, the rest are cancelled so that there would be enough time to install a new panel and connect the
Chennai: It was meant to be a simple 48-hour train journey from Gaya to Chennai via Itarsi, but it lasted a gruelling 80 hours. Four different modes of transport had to be used, that too in a naxal-infested area where an unofficial travel advisory is always in effect to travel at night. First, he boarded a DEMU at Gaya, then a passenger train from Patna, a taxi at Kolkata for which he had to pay through the nose and finally an express train from Santragachi, all within four days. Any other day, the stations except Gaya would not even have featured in his route map. That was not the case on Saturday, July 11, when 50-year-old Syed Ali Mujtaba, a content editor of a publishing firm in Chennai, started from his native near Gaya, hoping to start his new job two-nights later at Chennai. He was unaware that last month’s fire accident at RRI cabin in Itarsi station would make life hell for him.
The unfortunate traveller took a circuitous trip covering 2,400 km spread across six states, instead of a direct 1,830km rail journey. Syed travelled all the way up to Santragachi beyond Kolkata from Gaya for want of a train to Chennai via Itarsi.But for a smart phone, some currency in his wallet and thankfully a few helpful relatives in Patna, he would have been stranded like many others at Gaya station, where the railway authorities, he claims, did not adequately inform people about train cancellation. Syed is not alone in suffering this ordeal.
Thousands have been suffering and probably they will be suffering till the Itarsi RRI cabin is fully repaired. In this tell-all chat with Deccan Chronicle, Syed recalls how he learnt about the train cancellation when he casually logged in to check his ticket status. “I did not want to travel at night in the naxal infested area. So I started from my native and reached Gaya on Saturdayafternoon itself. Some time late that evening, I checked my ticket status. I found that the train was cancelled. Strangely, there was no announcement or any information on the display board at the station. I saw hundreds of poor farmers waiting at the station without any clue about the cancellation. I informed a few,” Syed said.
“What if I had no money then? Thanks to my smart phone, which helped find the alternate train availability. I boarded a DEMU and reached Patna in three hours. A few of my relatives at Patna had also helped me get a ticket in a Kolkata bound train,” he said, complaining how his misfortune continued at Howrah where he had to pay Rs 800 for a taxi to reach Santragachi, the station from where the next train to Chennai started. “Then it was another 12-hour journey. I started on Saturday afternoon and reached early Wednesday evening. It was an 80-hour journey from Gaya to Chennai,” the former college principal said, wondering what would be the plight of the farmers at Gaya station.
“One of my fellow passengers from Santragachi had travelled all the way from Chandigarh to Kolkata to catch a train to Chennai. I consider myself not that unlucky,” a sarcastic Syed blurted out, asking “How many can afford a flight or spend extra bucks for a roundabout trip? What about the people who don’t have money or who get refund for their cancelled e-tickets after a few days.”
Fears of passengers like Syed cannot be ignored considering that Southern Railway (SR) has cancelled 266 trains originating and passing through its (zone) limits since June 17 to Thursday.
Railway officials, who admit that the complete repair of the Itarsi RRI cabin would consume more time, have forecast more cancellations.
Why Itarsi cabin fire has brought railway to standstill?
One might wonder why a fire that had happened a month back at the RRI (route relaying interlocking) would bring Indian railway to a virtual standstill? It is on the trunk route. It is the gateway to the north.
Hundreds of trains pass through the station from North to South and a few East to West. The fire destroyed the entire signal panel. Unlike the old pointing system, it is fully controlled through electrical and electronic circuits. While replacing the charred panel, the electric wires and signal lines have to be connected to the circuit. It cannot be done while operating trains.
A few major trains are manually received enroute at Itarsi, the rest are cancelled so that there would be enough time to install a new panel and connect the lines, a senior railway officer who is familiar with the technical know how of RRI functioning said. “It is like the main board of a television. The TV will not function without it. Likewise, the RRI cabin is nerve centre of the railway signal system,” the officer explained.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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