Our gut is often called the “second brain” of the body, and its health impacts everything from digestion to immunity and even mood. Yet, many of us ignore the subtle signs that something is off until it turns into a bigger problem. To help decode these early warning signals
Indian railways is running trains for passengers hit by IndiGo crisis. But they are going empty
On Monday afternoon, Gurmeet Singh and his daughter anxiously waited outside Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, hoping to take an IndiGo flight to Amritsar.
“We have no information from the airlines about whether the flight will take off at 7.20 pm,” Singh said. “There is no alternative to fall back on.”
About 400 metres away, tucked away at the far end of the departure terminal, an official of the Indian railways sat waiting at a help desk.
On December 6, four days after disruption of IndiGo flights left passengers stranded across the country, the Indian railways announced 89 special trains between several Indian cities. It also set up kiosks at airports to help passengers book tickets.
But Singh was unaware that the railways could be the alternative he was looking for. “The government should have publicised this,” he said.
Nor did other passengers Scroll spoke to at the airport know that booking a special train was an option.
The railway official at the help desk told Scroll on Monday that only two tickets had been booked through the day for passengers whose flights were cancelled by IndiGo airlines. “We sit here the entire day but only a few people visit,” he said.
A security guard said passengers were unlikely to find the railway kiosk as few ventured this far.
When Scroll checked the availability of seats on major routes on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation website, we found that several of the special trains were going empty.
On December 2, stricter pilot flight duty norms triggered a shortage of pilots and crew at IndiGo Airlines, which operates nearly 65% of all flights in the country.
The airlines delayed or cancelled hundreds of flights, triggering a crisis and pushing fares on several routes to unprecedented highs.
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Saturday was forced to step in and impose a cap on air fares.
A spokesperson for the Western Railway told Scroll that the special trains had been provided keeping in mind the disruption caused by cancellations of IndiGo flights. “We saw a demand for air travel between Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. Our special trains also cater to these stations,” the spokesperson said.
The Western Railway announced special trains between Mumbai, Jaipur, Surat, Vadodara, Nimach, and stations in between.
The Central Railway announced 14 special trains between Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Bilaspur, which will continue to run till December 12.
The Northern Railway's spokesperson told Scroll that they are operating 18 trains connecting Delhi, Varanasi, Darbhanga with Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. The number might increase over the next few days depending on the demand.
Similarly, the South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway have increased their train services between cities.
But while the trains began to run from December 6, there appeared to be few takers for them.
Scroll studied the availability of seats on major routes on the IRCTC website, the official government portal to book train tickets.
For example, on bi-weekly special trains between Mumbai and Bhiwani, which connect cities like Surat, Vadodara, Nimach, Jaipur and Ajmer, hundreds of seats were going unbooked. Till 6 pm on December 8, there were 248 seats available in 3AC coaches on the train scheduled for December 12, while on December 16, there were 439 seats available.
Another train from East Delhi station to Patna was running almost empty, even as 14 other trains on the same route were fully booked on December 9. Nearly 1,000 seats were available on the train when Scroll checked on December 8 evening.
A special train between Delhi and Prayagraj on December 9 had over 900 seats available, on December 8 evening. Other trains on that route are fully booked.
A Northern Railway spokesperson, however, told Scroll that they have publicised the provision for special trains on social media and government portals, leading to an uptick in bookings. “Special trains operating under Northern Railway are running 80% full,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Western Railway told Scroll that while they have run the special trains, they “do not expect air flyers to switch to trains”. “If a flight has been cancelled, the passenger will want a confirmed ticket in hand for a train that leaves the same day,” the spokesperson said. “They are unlikely to buy train tickets if they think it will not get confirmed.”
A senior railway official in Mumbai blamed the airport authorities for giving them a spot that had poor visibility. “The railways is only trying to help in this crisis,” the official said, requesting anonymity. “But the airport did not give us a prominent space.”
Meanwhile, passengers in distress remained in the dark about the special services.
On Monday, Veena Nathani was booked on an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Raipur. But two flights to the Chhattisgarh capital had already been cancelled or rescheduled. “We have no idea what we will do if our flight is cancelled,” Nathani told Scroll. “Trains are running fully booked.”
Asked if she had checked the special trains running from Mumbai, she said, “I did not know about it.”
Source: Scroll
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Our gut is often called the “second brain” of the body, and its health impacts everything from digestion to immunity and even mood. Yet, many of us ignore the subtle signs that something is off until it turns into a bigger problem. To help decode these early warning signals
2 months ago
