Mistimed, misplaced, mismanaged

The Commonwealth Youth Games8217; special superfast airconditioned train chugged into utter chaos on Sunday.

The Commonwealth Youth Games8217; special superfast airconditioned train chugged into utter chaos on Sunday. The train, on its maiden run from Delhi, was late by more than an hour and the authorities sent passengers scrambling in confusion over the platform slotted for the train.

8220;First they said platform number 3; when we took our bags there to wait, they announced it would arrive on platform number 1. The departure was scheduled for 3.30 pm; we have been waiting for more than an hour. If this is the case on the first day, then what are they going to do during the CYG,8221; said Parinder Singh, a passenger.

Passengers were also upset by poor amenities. Karlok Singh and three other businessmen had reserved tickets to Delhi via the Mumbai Rajdhani. 8220;We cancelled those after we read about the Games train in the newspapers. But there is no water in the toilets, the air-conditioner is not working and the train is late,8221; Singh complained.

Railway authorities said all this was nothing more than teething problems. 8220;The train arrived late from Delhi. It ought to have arrived by 10.30 am, but it came after 1.30 pm,8221; Senior Divisional Commissioner Ashok Malhotra admitted, after postponing the departure by an hour.

On the confusion over platforms, he said, 8220;We had scheduled it for platform number 3 but there were many petitions from the public asking us to put it for platform 1. The slot between 2 pm to 6.30 pm is very hectic but we rescheduled it because this is an important train for the city.8221;

Rail authorities were also criticised for the lack of publicity for the train. On its maiden run, the train ran nearly empty with only 74 passengers 8211; 64 in the third AC and 10 in the second AC. Most passengers had heard about the train only through newspapers. 8220;We were not sure that the train would start today. The bookings opened only at 8 am in the morning, because of which the reservations are few,8221; said Malhotra.

The train was finally flagged off from platform number 1 at around 4.30 pm by former Indian hockey team captain Dhanraj Pillai. It will run twice a week till the CYG ends and w ill depart from Pune at 15:20 hours and reach Nizamuddin at 12.40 hours. The journey will last for 21 hours and would cost less than trips on other trains plying between Pune and Delhi.