Lakhs of railway commuters, who earlier planned vacations well in advance, are now in a tizzy as both the Central and Western Railways are announcing the schedule of summer special trains just days before the date of journey. Earlier, the CR and WR used to announce the summer special trains almost a month in advance, providing passengers enough time to plan a vacation accordingly. However, now they are unable to do so. A frequent passenger from Uttar Pradesh, Vidya Bhaskar Pathak said, “Earlier, I had all the information in advance, so I could plan my vacation beforehand, but this year, all is not well.”
A senior railway official from WR said, “Previously, we had the coaches in our possession and we would chalk out the plan for summer special trains. But this year, we ran many rakes/coaches for Kumbh Mela pilgrims and could not get them back in time, hence we are announcing the special trains as and when the coaches are returned to our custody.” He added, “Not only the WR, but all zones are very late this year in announcing the summer special trains and are only doing it in parts.”
An official from CR backed this claim and said, “Yes, we plan special or extra trains when rakes are readily available for us. But, if these are not in our possession, then there is a big risk in planning beforehand.” When contacted, Subodh Jain, member engineering, Railway Board and general manager CR said, “I will check on this issue at the railway board level.”
Additionally, experts believe that this will lead to a huge revenue loss for the Railways as passengers are cancelling their vacation plans.
Subhash Gupta, president of Yatri Sangh, Mumbai said, “Earlier, the Railways would publish one advertisement in newspapers and all the passengers got full information in one go. But this year, the Railways is publishing and issuing a press release every alternate day, which is embarrassing for all.”