Railways must communicate clearly during crises

Railway staff fixing a leaking toilet after passenger complaints during the prolonged delay. Pic/By Special Arrangement

Passengers onboard a Mumbai-bound Superfast Express train recently accused the Railways of negligence after facing leaking toilets, lack of food and an eight-hour delay, with many alleging that the ‘superfast' train halted at nearly every station en route.

A mid-day journalist, too, travelling with his elderly mother, reported being stranded at Lucknow railway station for nine hours while waiting for a train to Mumbai, with no updates on arrival or platform despite freezing weather.

While some delays may be inevitable given the foggy weather, lack of communication from train crews, divisional control rooms and official helplines is inexcusable. This edit space has highlighted that no communication in any kind of transportation space or even public infra, is disastrous. Frustration, confusion, no decisions, conjecture all boil over to people making rash decisions, ire taking over logic and ill-informed guiding others often with tragic results.

A passenger added that toilets had no water, the ceiling leaked, and complaints went unheeded. Dinner arrived hours later. While the Railways said that this is a challenging season, they did not have a satisfactory answer to why there was no communication or other lapses.

We talk about superfast trains and bullet trains and all the rest, but basic hygiene, communication, and complaint redressal seem to be missing on the current network in places.

It is laughable that we tout all these super zippy and international upgrades but we do not have our basic on-ground facilities on point. This is like building castles on a bed of sand.

We need to first strengthen systems at the lowest but vital level. It is time to remember that it is the passengers, not hi-tech, hi-jinks, that are the heart of any commuting network. It is for them that infra is made, and the Railways has a responsibility for service and safety.