Chandigarh, June 26
Passengers of the 241 Up Shivalik Deluxe between Kalka and Shimla were left fuming yesterday as the train had unscheduled halts at Barog and Solan spanning more than two hours as no technicians were available for rectifying minor snags in the engine of their train.
The reason: officials of Ambala division — from the Divisional Railway Manager down to technician — were busy looking after the Union Minister of State for Railways and his family.
The Minister’s entourage, comprising nearly 30 family members, was travelling by a Minister of State for Railways (MOSR) Special train which had special coaches of the Shivalik Palace and Shivalik Deluxe.
A single trip by the Shivalik Palace to Shimla costs about Rs 8,000.
Though the MOSR Special left Kalka at 7 a.m., almost 90 minutes after the 241 Up Shivalik Deluxe, the latter was detained at Barog for almost an hour because of a technical snag in the engine.
The train was, however, signalled to proceed to Solan as the pilot engine of the MOSR Special was approaching Barog, where a lavish breakfast had been arranged for the Minister, his family and the Railway officials in attendance.
No one attended to the technical snag in the engine at Solan till passengers reportedly got furious and started raising slogans against the Railways. Most of the passengers were tourists from other parts of the country heading for Shimla and had already undertaken long journeys before reaching Kalka early in the morning.
One of the passengers, a girl student, had to take an examination at Summer Hill. As the passengers were agitated, the Railway officials acted swiftly and moved her to a Rail Car which was moving ahead of the MOSR Special.
From Solan, the 241 Up Shivalik Deluxe was taken to Shimla by the spare engine piloting the MOSR Special. It reached Shimla at 1.30 p.m., two and a half hours behind schedule.
The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, along with nearly 20 members of his “family” arrived by a Minister’s saloon attached to the Kalka Mail. They were joined at Kalka by an advance party of the Minister’s family which had arrived the previous evening by road. Since there was not enough space available at the Kalka railway station Guest House for the “VIP visitors”, folding beds were arranged and dinner was served.
The next morning, a nearly 60-member team, including the Minister’s family and the Railway officials attending on it, left for Shimla by the MOSR Special.
Railway officials were tightlipped about the travel entitlement of so many members of the Minister’s family on the MOSR Special .
All they said was that the
“VIP party” was travelling as per rules.
The Railway officials also refuted the allegation that the 241 Up Shivalik Deluxe was delayed by more than two and a half hours because no one could attend to its engine which had developed a minor technical snag.
In fact, Mr Surinder Kumar, a senior official of Ambala division, had tried to pacify the agitated passengers of the Shivalik Deluxe on the plea that technical snags could occur anywhere, any time.
Though the Railway officials denied that the working of Ambala division was derailed because all senior officials were busy attending on the Minister and his family, the working was definitely affected. The Minister and his family will stay in Himachal till June 29. He has fixed a couple of meetings in Shimla, including with Himachal Government officials, to make the trip “official”.
