After Barbil-bound Jan Shatabdi gets postponed, passengers stage protest

Kolkata: Agitated passengers crowded the inquiry counter at New Complex of Howrah Railway Station on Tuesday after Barbil-bound Jan Shatabdi’s departure was postponed due to coach replacement.

According to a South Eastern Railway (SER) official, technical glitch was detected during the train checking. Hence, new coaches had to be attached and the departure which was scheduled at 6:20 am was delayed. As per reports, the train left Howrah station at around 10 am.

The delay agitated the passengers who crowded the inquiry counter. During this rush, the fibre at the counter fell. According to the official, the situation was normalised after officials spoke with the passengers of the constraint. A fact-finding committee has also been formed to look into the technical glitch which led to the delay. According to SER, Barbil-Howrah Jan Shatabdi’s departure from Barbil has been rescheduled to 5:40 pm instead of 1:40 pm due to late running of link rake. Passengers travelling via SER have been complaining of delays in long-distance trains. However, according to an official, these delays mostly take place due to operational constraints which includes late arrival of the link rake. “A maintenance schedule for trains has to be maintained. In that case, if a link rake is delayed, the subsequent schedule of the train also gets rescheduled,” it was stated.