Railways flooded with complaints by passengers on Tejas Express debut

Falling tubelight panels nonfunctional indicators and TV screens and coolies stuck inside the train marked the inaugural run of the AhmedabadMumbai Tejas Express The Railways was flooded with complaints by passengers on Day 1 after using an over yearold rake lying in the yard and not fixing many passenger amenitiesNevertheless IRCTC that operates the train punctured the planned MNS protest against the Gujarati uniforms of the hostesses onboard the train by giving them Nehru topis on the journey that terminated at Mumbai Central midday was onboard the train on its inaugural runA tubelight panel in the E1 coach fell close to a senior citizen badly scaring him and a few coolies found themselves stuck on the train at Vadodara as the doors shut after the train began to move I had no idea that the doors close on this train and I came in with some senior citizens luggage When I tried to leave the doors would not openNow I am trapped I will tell my colleagues to be careful about this train said coolie Antar Singh Singh was able to get off only at Surat the trains next halt 129 km awayThe rail hostesses were given Nehru topis on the journey to MumbaiSenior citizen Santosh Chandra Dubey who got in at Vadodara got a fright when a tubelight cover fell right next to him as the train jerked I am a heart patient and such things scare This should not have happened on the inaugural run he saidAnother passenger said The train journey was nice but there were a number of small complaints Many of the TV screens in the expensive Executive Coach were nonfunctional and the tables behind the trolley too need attention in these two coaches Also the WiFi did not function throughout the journey because of some snagThe Gujarati caps that the MNS had objected toIRCTC Director Tourism amp Marketing Rajni Hasija told the media that they had been made aware of all the complaints and that all of them would be attended to promptly The train was just standing for two years It had been readied but there may be some issues We have told the relevant departments to fix the issues immediately before the return journey she said midday found that the coach had been manufactured in August 2018On the MNS controversy IRCTC Group General Manager Rahul Himalian said the uniforms of the hostesses would get a touch of Marathi culture and by the time the train reached Mumbai the caps had been changedCoolie Antar Singh who got stuck on the train at BarodaMeanwhile at Ahmedabad station as Tejas docked at platform 1 in the morning trade unions staged a protest outside the station against privatisation but were whisked away by the police immediatelyRailway Minister Piyush Goyal who was expected at the inauguration which had been on the priority list of the Ministry of Railways skipped the event While sources alleged that Goyal had skipped it because of the anticipated protests the railways said the minister was caught up in another event and was getting late11 priests roped in to bless trainEleven priests were lined up for the inauguration of the train to bless it and protect it from bad forces The priests were brought to give blessings on the day of the inauguration so that the train has a long life an official said The priests also gave their blessings to the hostesses and staff followed by a cultural dance at the stationCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates