50 passengers missed their train due to the recent timetable change by Western Railway. The passengers arrived at Palghar railway station at around 4.30 pm on October 1, to on board Dadar-Bikaner Rankapur Express but they missed the train, as it was rescheduled to its old time which is 1.54 pm. The irate passengers claimed that they had lost the train due to miss communication from the railway station.
Passengers, irate after missing the train, reached the station master office to speak about refunds as many of them booked tatkal tickets at the last minute.
Vicky Jain, a traveller who filed a complaint, said, "The station master should have notified the passengers by displaying it on the board or other mode of communication. The train was earlier scheduled to arrive at Palghar after 4.30 pm, but after a change in timetable, it departed at 1.54 pm, well two and a half hours before the old time, leaving the passengers in shock. "
Another commuter said, "The passengers now are not eligible to get the refunds technically. But, this is a clear case of miscommunication from the railways and they should sort this out. What was the passenger’s mistake? "
Western Railway chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur confirmed that, as per prevailing protocols, automated messages were forwarded regarding time table changes, adding, "We will take action against them once the complaints are filed."
The official said, "As per the old timetable, the departure time of train number 14708 from Dadar was 12.35 pm. Meanwhile, its departure time was rescheduled to 3.15 pm and the timetable was changed by the superintendent of Palghar station.
From October 1, the departure timing was rescheduled to 12.35 pm. And, the update was shared with passengers through bulk SMS. However, the passengers mistakenly saw the board of the old timetable at Palghar station.
WR will face a challenging day on Monday, as the employees and staffers in and around Mumbai are dependent on the railways. This will be the first full week after the change in timetable, and it has already effected many changes in the train timings, including both in AC local trains.
A petition was filed by the commuters against WR requesting that they not alter the timing of the AC local that departs from Borivli at 7.54 am.
