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Forum raises issue of shortage of bed linens in air-conditioned coaches in trains
Of late, cleanliness and number of bed linen needed for passengers in trains have taken a severe beating. Therefore, the Indian Consumer Rights Foundation, based at Thoothukudi, has raised the issue of shortage of bed linen in trains and demanded the Southern Railways to fix the issue as soon as possible.
By
migrator
migrator
Madurai
Bedding is provided in air-conditioned coaches in trains. Time and again, passengers have been continuously raising the issue of shortage of bedding and their quality in the trains. As a proof of the shortage of bedding, the Indian Consumer Rights Foundation had obtained a receipt of bedding loaded at Pearl City Express. Sankar, president, Indian Consumer Rights Foundation, said that there is always a shortage of bedding in most trains.Â
To prove their point, they had taken the Pearl City Express as an example. On the bedding list supplied to the train from Thoothukudi to Chennai, on Friday, there was severe shortage of bed sheets, pillow covers and hand towels. Out of total 1250 required bed sheets, only 1000 were loaded in the train. Similarly, when the number of pillow covers needed was 625, only 285 were loaded in the train. It was a clear deficiency of more than 50 per cent.Â
Also, the number of available hand towels was 100, while the requirement was 625. Woollen blankets and pillows were in shortage too. Cleanliness of the bedding materials is a serious issue that plagues passengers. It is said that including blankets, the bedding materials are washed only once in 10 days. The receipt showed that the blankets were last washed on July 4, ten days before the travel. Â
Shortage of supply of bedding in trains amounts to deficiency of services under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 and hence officials should take prompt action, said Sankar.Â
Change timing of Thoothukudi-Kovai express, says MPÂ
Thoothukudi MP, Jeyasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee, had demanded the southern Railway officials to alter the timings of trains leaving and reaching Thoothukudi Railway station.Â
Natterjee has recently met Southern Railways General Manager, Vashishta Johri, and has submitted his demands. In the list of demands he had stated that the Thoothukudi-Coimbatore Express was recently changed into a super-fast train and hence the starting time of the train at Coimbatore had been advanced from 8.30 pm to 7.30 pm and so the train reached Thoothukudi station as early as 3.55 am. The train should leave Coimbatore at 8.30 pm and reach Thoothukudi at 5.30 am, which would be convenient for passengers. Similarly, timings of the Thoothukudi-Mysore Express should also be changed so that it should reach Thoothukudi at 9.30 am instead of 11.15 am and it should leave Thoothukudi at 5.30 pm instead of 4.35 pm. Natterjee also demanded for another pair of trains between Thoothukudi and Tambaram and also for trains to Coimbatore via Palani and Pollachi stations. When Natterjee asked why there were no proper road facilities in Thoothukudi Railway station, the GM replied that it was due to paucity of funds. Natterjee then assured that if Railways came up with a good road-laying plan, he would support with his own funds.Â
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