SR ‘to examine’ as MP flags ‘VIP culture’ at Egmore station
The alleged VIP culture, ‘sponsored’ by railway officials, came to light after Madurai MP Su Venkatesan of CPM flagged the issue on social media.
Photo posted by Madurai MP Venkatesan on his X handle
CHENNAI: Southern Railway (SR) seems not to have come out of the colonial hangover yet. Its officials took VIP culture to new heights by allegedly making over a thousand passengers suffer the pain of climbing staircases or use escalators at Chennai Egmore station Thursday night, only to facilitate one of their bosses from New Delhi, a railway board member, conveniently board a special inspection train at the terminal.
The alleged VIP culture, ‘sponsored’ by railway officials, came to light after Madurai MP Su Venkatesan of CPM flagged the issue on social media. Drawing SR General Manager RN Singh’s attention on Friday to the apathy of officials who placed Pandian Express (No: 12637) on platform 5 instead of the usual platform 4 on Thursday night, Venkatesan said, “I am shocked to know that the non-placement of Pandian Express on platform 4 is not warranted by operational constraints but to facilitate one single person who is a member (infra), railway board to board Rameswaram-bound special train without using escalator.”
The MP alleged that the board member’s special train was to depart an hour after the Pandian Express, but it was placed on platform 4. “But a thousand passengers were made to suffer by climbing the escalator and staircases. I am a witness to the ordeal, particularly of senior citizens and women along with children. This reminds me of the colonial-era practice of disturbing thousands of passengers for the sake of one officer,” said Venkatesan, conveying his displeasure “on behalf of thousands of co-travellers”.
Responding to the MP’s charge, an official clarification issued by SR said the General Manager has instructed the official concerned to examine the matter and to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in the future. It further claimed that the placement of the inspection special on platform 4 and Pandian Express on platform 5 was done purely for operational reasons.
Responding to charges of its officials shifting the platform of Pandian Express just for the convenience of one of their bosses from New Delhi, the Southern Railway, late on Friday, clarified that the placement of the inspection special on platform 4 and Pandian Express on platform 5 was done purely for operational reasons.
It said, on Thursday, train no 22676 Cholan Express arrived at 6.20 pm on platform 5 and was undergoing cleaning as usual for its further onward service as Pandian Express. “Pandian Express had departed from platform no 5 on several days of its service. The inspection special for member (infra), Railway board arrived from Dr MGR Chennai Central on platform no 4 at 8.57 pm only. From the above sequence, it can be seen that platform no 4 got free only after the departure of Podhigai Express at 8.40 pm whereas Pandian Express is scheduled to depart at 9.40 pm. With an hour to depart and with most of the passengers already on board, it is unsafe to shunt the train from platform no 5 to platform 4,” it added.
