Chennai: If your calls to the railway helpline number 138 are not getting attended to, worry not, because the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Chennai has now started redressing passenger issues via Twitter handle @MAS_138.
In a bid to cater to passengers in the Chennai division, the Twitter account was started as an official Passenger Assistance Cell for all complaints related to trains like cleanliness, maintenance, cleanliness, emergencies, catering, and infrastructure.
But according to railway officials, the account is being operated by the DRM, Anupam Sharma, who is personally taking note of the issues and concerns of the passengers.
It has received many tweets from rail users, and swift acknowledgment and response from the DRM. On a periodic basis, updates on trains, delays, new trains, experimental initiatives, and developments are tweeted from the handle as well.
“Passengers instead of calling on 138 have now started tweeting. There are tweets daily. The DRM himself is taking care of passenger tweets and complaints,” said a senior Southern Railway official, who added that initially it was thought to be the work of a team under the DRM.
He added that it was quite surprising to see the DRM himself getting involved in solving passenger complaints. A rail user at Park Town suburban station tweeted to @MAS_138 on Friday night that the non-functional automatic ticket vending machine (ATVM) is causing hassles to passengers because of having to stand in never-ending queues. By 2 AM on Saturday morning, the passenger was notified via Twitter that the issue has been rectified and that the machine was functioning.
“I think Twitter is a good platform to interact with the authorities, as phone numbers are not always accessible. Also, it is better that all government departments are active on Twitter as it brings in swiftness and transparency,” said a rail commuter, CL Ramakrishnan.
