Incidents of overcrowding in Indian Railways are increasing, often highlighted when distressed passengers share images of the poor conditions on social media. To tackle this issue, Indian Railways has set a 4–5-year timeline aiming for a “zero waiting list” with the addition of 3,000 trains.
However, the Jodhpur-Mumbai Suryanagari Express saw ticketless passengers achieving this goal prematurely. Social media erupted when images of aisle sleepers in a reserved coach of the superfast train were shared.
A Passenger’s Experience
Jeet Sangam documented his terrible experience on the superfast train after boarding from Ahmedabad at 3:50 am on Wednesday. He was shocked to see several ticketless passengers sleeping in the aisle, making navigation through the reserved sleeper coaches nearly impossible. Sangam recorded the scene, showing people sleeping on the floor from the aisle to the gangway, and shared it on X (formerly Twitter).
Sangam’s post read:
“Train 12479 Suryanagri Express in every coach departed from Ahmedabad today at 3:50 AM. Especially during vacation time, people are forced to travel like this with family.” He tagged @RailMinIndia, @RailwaySeva, @WesternRly, @Central_Railway, @RailwayNorthern, @NWRailways, and @PMOIndia.
Community and Railway Response
Mumbai Matters, a civic issue-focused community on X, reshared Sangam’s video, commenting:
“Indian Railways moving rapidly towards ‘ZERO WAITING LIST’ for passengers.”
Western Railway (WR) responded, stating that many passengers traveling without reservations were detrained en route to Mumbai. A Railways spokesperson said:
“After this came to our notice, waitlisted passengers were removed from the reserved coach of 12479 Jodhpur – Mumbai Suryanagri Exp with the help of RPF staff at Vadodara, Surat & Vapi stations. Summer Special trains are being run by Indian Railways to clear the heavy rush during this summer season. Regular checks are conducted by the WR staff to decongest trains daily. Passengers are requested to use these summer special trains for planning their journeys.”
https://x.com/WesternRly/status/1793195294097874992
Public Reaction
Despite these measures, many passengers who have experienced similar situations remain unconvinced. Here are some reactions from netizens:
“When the Railway Minister is only interested in key projects like Vande Bharat, this is what happens. India doesn’t just need fast trains. We need more trains. Buckle up or move out @AshwiniVaishnaw” — KINUS YTTEHS (@KINUS_YTTEHS) MAY 22, 2024
It seems the issue of overcrowding in trains will not be resolved soon. Have you faced such a situation? Let us know in the comments.
