Pune: As many as 50 passengers of train number 11017 Lokmanaya Tilak Terminal (LTT)-Karaikal Express were stunned after reaching Pune station on Saturday, as the train they were supposed to travel to Chennai in was cancelled. All of them had booked their tickets by Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. The passengers claim that they did not receive IRCTC’s SMS, which is usually sent when a train is delayed or cancelled.
R Krishna (52), booked his ticket to Chennai from Pune. When he arrived at Pune station, he found that the train was cancelled and he was not informed.
“I booked my ticket through IRCTC website. They have not informed us and it is not mentioned on the notice board here either. We are very confused and have to reach Chennai by tomorrow. The station manager said that the cancellation was planned,” Krishna told Sakal Times. If it is planned, then why have they not informed us, Krishna raised the question.
Jyothi (32), another passenger, said, “I have a confirmed ticket and the train has been cancelled. How will I travel? They have to provide an alternate option to passengers. If I book a ticket now, I will not get a confirmed berth.”
The passengers approached the station manager to solve their problem but in vain. Then they approached the Station Director AK Pathak. Pathak suggested that the e-ticket amount will be reimbursed to their account and if they have an emergency to reach Chennai, they can get a general ticket and go to TTE to travel in a sleeper coach.
AK Pathak said, “The train is cancelled due to an operation of non-interlock working for commissioning of double line in some stations in Solapur division. I don’t know why the passengers did not receive any message from IRCTC. Only a few passengers approached us about their problem. I tried to resolve their problem.”
According to the official of Pune railway division, if the passenger booked an e-ticket, the IRCTC will inform them if the train is cancelled or delayed. It has happened only with few passengers. Either their number was not mentioned on the ticket or some number was missing.
The Solapur division has started operation of non-interlock working for commissioning of a double line between Vakav-Madha-Wadsinge stations from April 1 for 15 kilometres in the Solapur-Daund section. Due to this, trains between Pune and Solapur will be cancelled for 15 days and some express trains have been diverted via Secundrabad, Latur Road and Daund. Meanwhile, train number 11017 LTT-Karaikal was cancelled on April 7 and train number 11018 will be cancelled on April 9.
