Tejas Exp passengers ‘suffocate, suffer heat stroke’ after AC stops

MUMBAI: Passengers travelling on the C-11 coach of the premium luxury train Tejas Express on the Konkan Railway were inconvenienced on Saturday after the air conditioning (AC) stopped working. Passengers complained of uneasiness, suffocation and heat stroke owing to lack of ventilation. One of them even complained of food poisoning on board.

The Konkan Railway spokesperson said the centrail railway (CR) was responsible for maintenance of the train. However, the CR spokesperson was not available for comment till the time of going to press.

The train had departed from Karmali, Goa at 2.35pm on Saturday. The passengers that the railway staff on board had failed to attend to their complaints. Some of them took to Twitter to voice their grievances, tagging authorities including the handles of the railway minister and the railway ministry.

One of the passengers, Amitabh Talwar, tweeted, “Tejas Express 22120 AC not functioning in C11 since it departed Karmali, causing suffocation repeated request to TTE & railway staff of no use, #PiyushGoyal” (sic).

Amidst this, one passenger even complained that her 11-year-old son suffered food poisoning on the train. “I hope the railways understand that the people travelling by trains are not stray animals to eat whatever is served in whichever conditions,” read one Leena Naik’s tweet.

Meanwhile, one passenger said they received some relief after the automatic train doors were opened. Some passengers were later shifted to the executive chair cars after they threatened to stop the train at Ratnagiri station.

Tejas Express, India’s first premium luxury train and plying between Mumbai and Goa was launched in May 2017.