The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has written to Railways highlighting the dilapidated condition of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express, PTI reported. In the letter, the IRCTC has urged the Railways to allocate a Vande Bharat rake as replacement to run the corporate train. Malfunctioning bio-toilets and LCD screens, and water leakage in coaches are some of the issues mentioned by the IRCTC since July in its letters to the Railway Board and the Western Railways, the zone in which the train runs, urging them to help fix the same. A rake is a line of coupled passenger coaches or freight wagons or railcars (excluding the locomotive) that typically move together.
“One of the Vande Bharat rakes be kindly allocated for the corporate train Tejas Express with a composition of 16 coaches,” an IRCTC letter to the Railway Board and the Western Railways read. “This (providing Vande Bharat train rake) will not only put an end to bevy of passenger complaints being received especially during the monsoon season for rake deficiencies rather it shall also solve all the woes of the mechanical department both in maintenance as well as flexibility in spares management,” it added.
According to PTI, the letters further stated that the train was being maintained on an “ad hoc basis in a piecemeal way” which is not benefitting the premium train service. “The non-maintenance of coaches has resulted in deteriorating the condition of the coaches and thereby tarnishing the brand Tejas and arising complaints from passengers travelling on board,” another letter read.
In the latest letter earlier this month, the IRCTC raised the issue of no support for the maintenance of high-end equipment on board by the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) after the expiry of the annual maintenance contract (AMC).
Among other incidents in Tejas Express reportedly mentioned in the letters are the collapse of a ceiling panel, which occurred twice in the last year, in which passengers suffered head injuries, recurring deficiencies like choked toilets, leakages from roof, electrical panel faults, faulty infotainment systems, non-functional GPS and faulty coach entry main doors which are either not opening or opening on both sides. The train is maintained by the Western Railway in Ahmedabad.
