PTC News Desk: Abhas Kumar Shrivastava's disheartening train journey resonated across social media platforms, shedding light on overcrowding issues plaguing Indian Railways.
Amid a surge in complaints about overcrowded trains, a poignant incident surfaced, emphasising a passenger's distressing ordeal on an Indian Railways journey. Despite holding a confirmed ticket, Abhas Kumar Shrivastava endured an entire trip standing due to the lack of available seating.
His social media post on platform X detailed the dismay of navigating through a packed Rourkela Intercity train to locate his allotted seat. Upon reaching seat number 64, he found a pregnant woman occupying it. Rather than disputing the seat, Shrivastava opted to stand by the train door throughout the two-hour journey, expressing ironic gratitude to Indian Railways, IRCTC, and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for his "memorable" journey.
His post sarcastically thanked the system for a confirmed ticket that mandated standing throughout the trip: "Reserved a seat 4 days prior and got a confirmed ticket. It was only after somehow entering the train I realised I couldn't even reach my seat number 64."
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Accompanying his post was a photo illustrating the overcrowded train coach, emphasising the congestion in the corridor, leaving passengers cramped and with minimal room to move. In the comments, Shrivastava clarified his reservation in the non-AC second seater (2S) class, prevalent in daytime Intercity and Janshatabdi trains. However, the overwhelming presence of ticketless passengers left him feeling akin to traveling in the General class, further exacerbating his standing ordeal.
After several commenters speculated that Mr. Shrivastava might have mistakenly entered the wrong coach, considering the layout visible in his shared picture, he addressed this possibility:
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Acknowledging these observations, Mr. Shrivastava responded to the comments, hinting that he might have unintentionally boarded the wrong coach based on the coach layout depicted in his photo.
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This incident echoes a recent complaint by another Indian Railways passenger, Swati Raj. Just a week before, she expressed concerns about unreserved individuals occupying coaches specifically allocated for passengers with confirmed tickets. Swati Raj highlighted this issue by sharing a video from her journey aboard the Mahananda Express, depicting the corridor of her AC first-tier coach congested with male passengers who seemingly didn't hold valid tickets.
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