‘Robbery’ by railways: Passengers pay for 2AC but forced to ride 3AC

Guwahati (Assam), 5 August 2018

Call it daylight robbery. The Indian Railways has been for the past few days robbing passengers of their hard-earned money. The robbery entails journey by a train that plies between Kamakhya and Dimapur and vice versa. Dimapur is Nagaland’s commercial hub and the state’s only railhead, catering to passengers of also Manipur.

If you book a 2AC ticket for journey by Nagaland Express, you will be made to board a 3AC coach. There are no 2AC coaches at all. The difference of fare between a 2AC berth and a 3AC berth for journey from Kamakhya to Dimapur or vice versa is Rs.205. The 2AC fare is Rs.700 while the 3AC fare is Rs.495. As per rules, the excess money taken should be refunded but it is not being done.

Enraged over this cheating, some passengers ventilated their ire before railway officials at Guwahati railway station late Saturday night. They argued if 2AC coaches in the train were not available, what made the railway to sell 2AC tickets.

Also, Nagaland Express rarely runs as per schedule and this, despite it not being a long-distance train. Its scheduled departure from Guwahati is at 11:35 pm but it always gets delayed by one to two hours. This results in the delay of Dimapur-Kamakhya train whose scheduled departure from Dimapur is at 6 am. The same coaches are used for the train from Dimapur.

The station master at Guwahati railway station on Saturday was virtually made to give it in writing that the railways has not been able to deliver it to the passengers from Nagaland.

Another train – BG Express – which plies on the same route is comparatively better off. However, when it comes to facilities in both trains, a lot more is expected, said some aggrieved passengers.

“We are fed up of the two trains’ frequent delay in arrival and departure. Also, the bed rolls, which passengers are provided with in AC coaches, are not usable as they are very dirty. Are we being cheated and treated shabbily because we are Nagas?” a passenger asked.

When contacted, a spokesman of the Northeast Frontier Railway said they would look into the matter.