RJD Rally Affects Railway Services in Patna
Patna: Oct. 29, 2007
While the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders were still gloating over their Sunday 'Chetawani Rally' in Patna, situation at Patna Junction on Monday became so horrible that passengers had to resort to a protest demanding equal treatment while accusing the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav of discriminating against those who did not support him or his rally.
"In his zeal to ensure a large presence for his rally, the Railway Minister ignored ordinary passengers who had nothing to do with this farce. Rally trains were pushed ahead while we were stranded at various small stations for more than 18 hours," said a very angry protestor on Platform #3.
The situation was so bad on Monday that the trains that were supposed to leave Patna on Sunday night were still stranded at Patna Junction while thee trains that were scheduled to arrive in Patna on late Sunday night or early Monday morning were still trying to find their way to Patna Junction.
Because of too many rally-attendees trying to catch their trains, authorities on Monday ordered the use of all platforms instead of the only first three platforms as was planned prior to the rally. As a result, the regularly scheduled trains had to be left unattended at various stations where neither food nor water was available for many hours.
Among the trains that were delayed due to the pressure of flagging off rally special trains first included Magadh Express, Patna-Delhi Rajdhani Express, Sampoorna Kranti, and many other trains.
While 3006 Howrah-Amritsar Express that was supposed to reach Patna on Sunday night at 10:10 pm did not arrive till 4:25 on Monday morning, Hatia-Patna Express came 7 hours late, Upper India was 6 hours late, and Bhagalpur-Surat Express arriving 9 hours behind its regular schedule.
Laliquila Express, Vibhuti Express, Northeast Express and many other trains were also running 4-8 hours late, authorities said.
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