Kochi: A new safety direction of the divisional authorities that permits the halting of trains at short notice to facilitate track maintenance and renewal works is putting commuters at great hardship as there is no advance information about train delays so as to plan their journeys.
“Due to revision of criteria by the Railway Board recently, smaller defects hitherto identified for keeping under observation till next testing, also need to be rectified immediately. For instance, a minor rail crack which cannot be visible from outside can be detected using the ultra waves. Since the work cannot be posted, permission was granted to control train movements at short notice,” a senior railway official said.
Even the station masters claim that under the new direction, they too were not being given advance information about line blocks or slow down of train speeds.
“For the past several weeks, we’re having no idea about which trains were getting affected and hence could not make announcements at stations, resulting in commuter complaints. We’ve brought the issue to the notice of the divisional railway manager and other concerned officials. They’ve promised to give prior information to the public through media from Saturday onwards,” a station manager said on request of anonymity.
Presently, the train regulation is allotted from divisional headquarters upon request of the engineering and safety departments at short notice. Earlier such permissions were given only after a day or two when the request was made.
“Today I was travelling by the Cannanore-Ernakulam Express. Upon reaching the Angamaly station, the train was halted for nearly 20 minutes. However no announcements were made. Actually they should have given prior information about the delay,” said Chandran Menon, a commuter.
The railway passenger associations too have demanded that a system should be put in place so as to give advance information about the affected trains. “Many commuters depend on trains to reach destination on time. They will be going to catch a flight or have other plans. We’re not against the safety drive by the railways. But they should give prior information about regulation of each train to be affected even at the last hour,” said P. Krishnakumar, general secretary, Thrissur Railway Passengers Association.
