BENGALURU: Over 700 passengers proceeding to Bengaluru on board Lokmanya Tilak Kurla Express from Mumbai had a nightmarish travel experience on Monday (December 9).
They had no clue that their train would bypass Bengaluru on its way to Coimbatore by taking a different route. Many senior citizens ended up spending up to Rs 8,000 on cabs from Guntakal Junction in Andhra Pradesh to Bengaluru.
The Bengaluru Railway Division announced a partial cancellation of the train on December 1. The Guntakal Division too had put out an advisory. However, the ticket confirmation messages sent to the passengers confirmed their journey up to SBC Bengaluru City.
“I got this message at 6.43pm on December 8 stating that train No 11013 does not touch your station SBC on 8.12.2023. My train is supposed to reach KSR Bengaluru only on December 9. So, I assumed this was for the train that left the previous day which would reach Bengaluru on December 8 and did not pay much attention to it. Unfortunately, as it turned out the next day, it was for our train and the date in the message was wrong,” DH Suresh, a senior citizen, who travelled with his family, told TNIE.
Passengers told to claim refund
The announcement at railway stations kept stating that it would go via KSR. The train reached Guntakal at 1.30 pm on Monday and the TTEs directed the passengers to alight. “There was panic and confusion. The TTEs showed us that as per the reservation charts on their tablets, the tickets to Bengaluru only show LTT to Guntakal,” Suresh said.
Passengers were told to claim a refund for the untravelled portion of the journey,” he said. With the escalator on Platform 4 at Guntakal not working, it was an ordeal for passengers, especially senior citizens and women, to exit the station. “My family of four along with an elderly couple booked a six-seater cab and we paid Rs 13,500 to reach Bengaluru. It was a terrible experience for all of us,” he added.
Many paid cabs between Rs 8,000 and Rs 8,500 to reach Bengaluru, he said. Lawyer BS Prashant and his wife were in the 3-tier AC coach. “We were really shaken and could not believe we had to get down midway. My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in Mumbai and were returning to Bengaluru. The return trip took away all our joy and happiness,” Prashant said.
The message sent on December 7 by the Railways said the train from LTT was diverted via Guntakal, Renikunta, Jolarpettai and Salem and would not touch stations from Anantapur to Dharmapuri Junction. With SBC not specifically mentioned, passengers had no clue about it. Divisional railway managers of Guntakal and Bengaluru did not respond to the calls by TNIE. The general manager of SWR too did not respond.