Tough time for Malda passengers

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Jan 31: The assistant station manager, Mr NK Sengupta, was confined in a room by angry passengers at the Malda town station for several hours today.The passengers were protesting against alleged misleading information being provided by the employees of the railway enquiry department.The passengers alleged that the railway officials often mislead them by providing wrong information about the schedule of different long-distance trains. The railway authorities found it difficult to manage the angry passengers, who failed to board the long-distance trains, such as the 5648 Dn Guwahati Lok Manya Tilak Express and others, today allegedly due to the wrong information provided by the officials of the enquiry section. "The concerned staff of the told us that the 5648 Dn would arrive here around 3 am, but the train had left the station at 1 am," the passengers, alleged. The railway officials, however, said that nearly 59 passengers could not catch the long-distance trains on time today due to the rescheduling of some trains following the ongoing unrest in Assam. The divisional commercial manager of Malda railway division, Mr RN Tambe, said: "Passengers came to station around 2 am but the train had left earlier. They came to the station based on time mentioned in their reservation tickets". "It was not the fault of the enquiry section staff. The schedule of the trains had suddenly changed due to the present problem in Assam,"Mr Tambe, added. He said that 17 passengers were accommodated on 2504 New Jalpaiguri passenger train to board the Howrah-Bombay Mail.