Mysore Grahakara Parishat has written to Ashok Kumar Mital, General Manager, South Western Railways, Hubli with a list of major problems faced by railway users at Mysore.
For the last several years, MGP has been raising these issues through the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), but with very little success. MGP had also written to the DRM, Mysore, but did not even receive an acknowledgment. Therefore, MGP has written to the GM in the hope that some action will be taken on these pressing problems.
In the letter, MGP has requested the GM to intervene, set right the course and bring about visible and real relief to the public.
Major problems faced by railway users at Mysore, classified into station-related, train-related and TTE-related problems, are as follows:
A. Station - related:
1. Parking problems on both sides of the station, excess charging, no display board for charges or guidance for long and short time parking.
2. Long queues in the morning on both sides of the station, especially the western (CFTRI) side where a single window serves for more than 5 trains in the morning.
3. Lack of toilets, drinking water, seats, fans, and kiosks for emergency requirements of water, medicine, travel paraphernalia etc. especially on the western (CFTRI) side.
4. Passengers using wheelchairs and many elderly passengers can not use the foot overbridge. They can cross the tracks to exit only at the end of the platforms. This crossing has no protection from sun and rain.
5. Battery-operated vehicles are under repair most of the time. When they are available, the driver and the porters fleece the passengers.
6. Lack of lighting along platform numbers 4-6, making them unsafe.
7. Lack of electronic signboards indicating AC, sleeper coaches etc. on trains.
8. Lack of public announcements about reserved coach locations, restriction of travel on certain trains (especially superfast trains which entails heavy fine and no remedy), availability of facilities for special category of persons, safety warnings, etc.
9. Lack of information about availability and location of rest rooms, cloak rooms and retiring rooms.
10. Water mains between tracks are perennially leaking.
11. SMS-based complaint monitoring and redress system on the lines of South Central Railway and Northern Railway is not available. Senior DCM, Mysore assured that such a system exists, but we have not been able to find it.
B. Train - related:
1. Trains to Nanjangud, Chamarajanagar, KR Nagar and Hassan are not synchronized with arriving trains from Bangalore and vice-versa.
2. Connecting trains do not arrive and depart on adjacent platforms, leading to unnecessary climbing of stairs with luggage.
3. The present timings of the two morning trains to Nanjangud are not traveller-friendly.
4. The double track between Chennapatna and Bengaluru is not used to speed up trains between these two stations. It can also be used to run local trains between these two stations to reduce heavy crowds in Tippu and Chamundi Expresses.
5. Since Chamundi and Tippu Expresses are heavily crowded, additional trains can be introduced.
6. Poor quality food in Shatabdi from Mysore to Bangalore.(no hot beverages and no choice).
7. Badly maintained toilets and wash basins in most trains.
8. The train to Mangalore opens for reservation three months ahead and is booked full within a week. This indicates that more trains need to be scheduled to Mangalore.
9. Some express trains to Bengaluru take 3 hours while others take 4 hours - which is the same as a passenger train - but still charge express fare.
C. TTE - related:
1. People without reservations routinely occupy reserved seats and in such cases, the TTEs do not provide any help to people with reservations.
2. Many TTEs can not speak Kannada and this limits their usefulness.
3. Seats are "reserved" by means of bags, tiffin boxes, hankies etc. by friends of passengers who come at the last moment and the TTEs are unhelpful in enforcing a "First come, first seated" principle.
4. TTEs do not control unauthorized hawkers and beggars.
5. RPF do not assist the TTEs in enforcing the law. They are also not locatable nor helpful in case of theft, harassment, fight, violence etc
The list of problems was shorter a few years ago and it has been growing every year indicating that the administration is not taking an activist role is solving the problems. Instead of having a "Can Do" attitude, the administration is frequently using railway policy as an excuse for not taking any corrective measures. DRUCC was started with the idea of discussing and finding solutions to such problems, but the lack of seriousness in its meetings is disappointing. The meetings are not conducted in a professional manner and the issues discussed by DRUCC drag on for ever due to lack of initiative by the authorities. The non-stop stream of letters in the local newspapers by the public about the problems they are facing is a clear indicator of how the problems are getting out of hand.
R.Chandra Prakash and B.S.Shankara, Mysore Grahakara Parishat
For the last several years, MGP has been raising these issues through the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), but with very little success. MGP had also written to the DRM, Mysore, but did not even receive an acknowledgment. Therefore, MGP has written to the GM in the hope that some action will be taken on these pressing problems.
In the letter, MGP has requested the GM to intervene, set right the course and bring about visible and real relief to the public.
Major problems faced by railway users at Mysore, classified into station-related, train-related and TTE-related problems, are as follows:
A. Station - related:
1. Parking problems on both sides of the station, excess charging, no display board for charges or guidance for long and short time parking.
2. Long queues in the morning on both sides of the station, especially the western (CFTRI) side where a single window serves for more than 5 trains in the morning.
3. Lack of toilets, drinking water, seats, fans, and kiosks for emergency requirements of water, medicine, travel paraphernalia etc. especially on the western (CFTRI) side.
4. Passengers using wheelchairs and many elderly passengers can not use the foot overbridge. They can cross the tracks to exit only at the end of the platforms. This crossing has no protection from sun and rain.
5. Battery-operated vehicles are under repair most of the time. When they are available, the driver and the porters fleece the passengers.
6. Lack of lighting along platform numbers 4-6, making them unsafe.
7. Lack of electronic signboards indicating AC, sleeper coaches etc. on trains.
8. Lack of public announcements about reserved coach locations, restriction of travel on certain trains (especially superfast trains which entails heavy fine and no remedy), availability of facilities for special category of persons, safety warnings, etc.
9. Lack of information about availability and location of rest rooms, cloak rooms and retiring rooms.
10. Water mains between tracks are perennially leaking.
11. SMS-based complaint monitoring and redress system on the lines of South Central Railway and Northern Railway is not available. Senior DCM, Mysore assured that such a system exists, but we have not been able to find it.
B. Train - related:
1. Trains to Nanjangud, Chamarajanagar, KR Nagar and Hassan are not synchronized with arriving trains from Bangalore and vice-versa.
2. Connecting trains do not arrive and depart on adjacent platforms, leading to unnecessary climbing of stairs with luggage.
3. The present timings of the two morning trains to Nanjangud are not traveller-friendly.
4. The double track between Chennapatna and Bengaluru is not used to speed up trains between these two stations. It can also be used to run local trains between these two stations to reduce heavy crowds in Tippu and Chamundi Expresses.
5. Since Chamundi and Tippu Expresses are heavily crowded, additional trains can be introduced.
6. Poor quality food in Shatabdi from Mysore to Bangalore.(no hot beverages and no choice).
7. Badly maintained toilets and wash basins in most trains.
8. The train to Mangalore opens for reservation three months ahead and is booked full within a week. This indicates that more trains need to be scheduled to Mangalore.
9. Some express trains to Bengaluru take 3 hours while others take 4 hours - which is the same as a passenger train - but still charge express fare.
C. TTE - related:
1. People without reservations routinely occupy reserved seats and in such cases, the TTEs do not provide any help to people with reservations.
2. Many TTEs can not speak Kannada and this limits their usefulness.
3. Seats are "reserved" by means of bags, tiffin boxes, hankies etc. by friends of passengers who come at the last moment and the TTEs are unhelpful in enforcing a "First come, first seated" principle.
4. TTEs do not control unauthorized hawkers and beggars.
5. RPF do not assist the TTEs in enforcing the law. They are also not locatable nor helpful in case of theft, harassment, fight, violence etc
The list of problems was shorter a few years ago and it has been growing every year indicating that the administration is not taking an activist role is solving the problems. Instead of having a "Can Do" attitude, the administration is frequently using railway policy as an excuse for not taking any corrective measures. DRUCC was started with the idea of discussing and finding solutions to such problems, but the lack of seriousness in its meetings is disappointing. The meetings are not conducted in a professional manner and the issues discussed by DRUCC drag on for ever due to lack of initiative by the authorities. The non-stop stream of letters in the local newspapers by the public about the problems they are facing is a clear indicator of how the problems are getting out of hand.
R.Chandra Prakash and B.S.Shankara, Mysore Grahakara Parishat