MPs denied AC-I berths,top Rly officials shunted out

This prompted the minister to punish senior officials and also to apologise to the MPs on Wednesday.

Unable to get berths in the AC First Class coach of Patna Rajdhani to Delhi,18 MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh headed to attend the winter session complained to Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi of mistreatment. This prompted the minister to punish senior officials and also to apologise to the MPs on Wednesday.

In what is believed to be the first such incident,the MPs found that most of them were allotted berths in the AC-II tier compartment,downgraded from the AC-I travel which they are entitled to as per Railway Rules.

Railway Minister Trivedi transferred the Chief Commercial Manager of East Central Railway for failing to accommodate the MPs by adding an extra AC-First Class coach,as is the norm. I have apologised to the MPs,to Lalu Yadav some were from RJD and others for it. After taking action against the senior officials,I have decided that from now on these issues with the Rajdhani will be handled at the level of the Railway Board itself, Trivedi told The Indian Express.

It turns out that there was an official circular at the zonal railway that required a three-day notice for adding an extra coach. So despite them being MPs,it was not done, Trivedi said.

While most of the MPs boarded from Patna,five MPs from UP took the train from Mughalsarai. The group of MPs,which arrived late,included RJDs Raghuvansh Prasad Singh,who missed his date with a debate in the Lok Sabha on supplementary demand for grants. The MPs could not even opt for flight because of disruptions due to fog in Delhi.

Only six of the 18 MPs were given AC-I berths while the rest found space in AC-II tier. The MPs created a ruckus in the middle of the journey due to which the train had to be halted for some time. The companions of the MPs each is allowed to have one were given AC-III berths.

The Chief Passenger Traffic Manager has also been transferred while a divisional senior official of Danapur has been suspended.

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Some of the MPs alleged that it was deliberate mistreatment,although zonal rail authorities in Patna said it was a one-off incident. Accommodation was made according to availability. We couldnt have de-trained the bona fide passengers of the AC-First Class coach, said a senior official.