New Delhi:

Observing that there was negligence and deficiency in services by the Indian Railway, a consumer commission here has directed its general manager concerned to pay more than Rs 1.08 lakh to a passenger whose luggage was stolen during a journey.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Central District) was hearing the complaint which said the passenger’s bag containing valuables worth Rs 80,000 was stolen by some unauthorised passengers in January 2016 between Jhansi and Gwalior when he was travelling in a reserved coach of the Malwa Express.

“It was the duty of the railways for safe, secure and comfortable journey as well as safety and security of belongings of passengers,” the complaint said.

The commission, comprising its president Inder Jeet Singh and member Rashmi Bansal, said it had the territorial jurisdiction to try the case as the complainant boarded the train from New Delhi and there was “a continuity of the journey” till its arrival in Indore.

Besides, the office of the opposite party (General Manager, Indian Railway) was situated within the commission’s jurisdiction, it said in an order passed on June 3.

The commission rejected the argument of the railways that the complainant was negligent about her belongings and that the luggage was not booked.

Noting that the complainant was made to “run from pillar to post to register an FIR”, the commission said, “The manner in which the episode has happened and valuables were stolen followed by the efforts of the complainant to get the FIR registered with the authorities for appropriate enquiry or investigation, she suffered all kind of inconvenience and harassment to pursue her legal rights.” It said the complainant had established her case against the Indian Railway for negligence and deficiency in service as her belongings kept in a bag were stolen during her journey against reserved ticket.

“Had there been no negligence or deficiency in services on the part of the opposite party or its staff, there would be no such incident. There is no other defence or evidence to deny the value of the articles being carried by the complainant during her journey, therefore, the complainant is held entitled to reimbursement of loss of Rs 80,000,” the commission said.

It also awarded her Rs 20,000 as damages for suffering inconvenience, harassment and mental agony besides Rs 8,000 towards litigation cost.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Buxar:

Coaches can be seen strewn on both sides of the track, a few of these several feet away, in Raghunathpur, a non-descript town in Buxar district of Bihar where the North East Express derailed.

Four AC coaches, all of which have jumped the rails but remained coupled, form a scary serpentine pattern with shattered window panes serving as a telltale sign.

The guard of the Assam-bound train, Vijay Kumar, recalls having fallen unconscious from the impact of the derailment.

“I was busy with my paperwork when I realized that the driver suddenly applied brakes. This was followed by a few jerks, and I fainted. Later, I found myself in the adjoining fields, where villagers were sprinkling drops of water on my face,” said Kumar, who has sustained minor injuries.

With the rescue of passengers complete, the focus is now on restoration.

The entire area has been cordoned off as villagers watch gigantic cranes and machinery used for cutting through metal at work. They feel that, given the scale of devastation, it may be several days before the tracks are again fit for traffic.

Railways, though, insist that it will not take that long.

Mahendra Yadav, a 64-year-old resident of Madhepura district who was traveling in an AC 3-tier coach, recalled amid sobs, “It was an experience I may never forget. Suddenly, all of us started getting tossed off our berths by a force that none of us could fathom.” The elderly person is full of gratitude for local residents who had rushed to the spot and pulled out most of the passengers from the toppled coaches by the time the railway and other administrative officials arrived with assistance.

In an adjoining coach, Mohd Nasir and Abu Zayed, both residents of Kishanganj district, were fast asleep, perhaps enjoying pleasant dreams of a vacation at home, away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi.

As fate would have it, only one of them survived to witness the horror, which may remain a memory etched in his consciousness for some time to come.

“We had boarded the train on Wednesday morning. It was a tiring journey, and after having an early dinner, we went to sleep. The train would have reached Kishanganj early the next morning. Suddenly, I felt a jolt and got thrown off my berth. It took a while before I could understand what had happened,” said Nasir, with shock writ large on his gaunt, bespectacled face.

While Nasir thanked his stars for escaping with minor bruises in the accident, which saw virtually the entire train being thrown off the rails, his eyes turned moist as he recalled rescue personnel taking away the body of Abu Zayed, who is in his 20s, informing him that his friend was dead.

Ishalaur Rehman, a resident of Delhi, recalled how 10-15 people fell on him after a sudden jolt.

“I am lucky to have survived the accident with a minor injury to my hand. But what I saw was unforgettable. I boarded the train at Prayagraj for New Jalpaiguri. I was sitting on my seat, but suddenly, there was a deafening sound, and we were thrown from our seats. I could only hear screams all around,” he said.

“Locals took us to the nearby health center. Now, I am fine,” he added.

Twenty-three coaches of the train, on the way to Kamakhya in Assam from Delhi’s Anand Vihar station, derailed near Raghunathpur on Wednesday night.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Indian Railways has earned an additional revenue of more than Rs 2,800 crore from child travellers in the last seven years by revising child travel fare norms, an RTI response has found.

The response from the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act further indicates that the financial year of 2022-23 alone earned Rs 560 crore due to the amended norms making it the most profitable year.

CRIS, an organisation under the Ministry of Railways, provides IT solutions in core areas such as ticketing and passengers, freight services, train traffic control and operations, among others.

On March 31, 2016, the ministry announced that the railways would charge full adult fare for children of age 5 years and under 12 years if they opted for separate berths or seats in a reserved coach. The revised norm was made applicable from April 21, 2016.

Earlier, the railways used to offer separate berths to children between 5 and 12 years while charging only half the travel fare.

Though children of the said age group have been allowed in the revised norm to travel at half the fare, they don’t get separate berths or seats and they have to be accommodated on the seat of the adult with whom they are travelling.

The CRIS has provided the year-wise data in a tabular form from the financial year of 2016-17 to 2022-23 of two categories of children based on their fare options.

The data shows that in these seven years, over 3.6 crore children travelled paying half fare without opting for a reserved seat or coach. On the other hand, over 10 crore children opted for a separate berth/seat and paid full fare.

“The response also suggests that out of total children who travel by the railways, about 70 per cent prefer to pay full fare and get a berth or seat,” Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the RTI applicant, said.

He added, “In a long distance journey, it is very painful for both the child and the adult to use one berth or seat. The revision of norms has turned out to be a windfall gain for the railways.” Gaur said the data also shows that the Covid pandemic played a spoilsport as the year 2020-21 earned only Rs 157 crore due to the revised norm making it the least profitable year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)