No SMS on cancellation of trains irk passengers

Hyderabad: Rail passengers in the city are irked over the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s failure to send messages to reserved passengers when their trains get cancelled.

The ticket money gets refunded later, but passengers lament the time and money wasted in commuting to the station.

Fourteen South Central Railway trains were cancelled last week alone because of technical and operational issues.

When contacted, railway officials said there could not have been any discrepancies, as it is a computer-generated process.

“If a number is registered while booking a ticket, then a message would go to that number without fail,” the official said. “Sometimes passengers enter wrong number or use someone else’s number. Then we can’t help it,” the official said.

But some passengers who had entered their own number said they did not receive any message. Ms K. Kalpalatha, a passenger who had booked a ticket from Kacheguda to Bengaluru on Train No. 12785, which got cancelled on February 15, said they did not receive any message, despite having entered the correct cellphone number.

Some passengers vented their ire over the inconvenience on social media. Mr Rohit Chowhan said on Twitter: “I have booked 6 tickets. And now train (13151, Jammu-Tawi express) is cancelled but there is no intimation of train cancellation I have got. And still I have not refunded (sic).”

In case of online booking the money gets refunded into the account around 72 hours after ticket cancellation.