Railway help-lie
A few frequent travellers claim the rail enquiry service, 139, provides wrong information on train timings, availability of berths and fares
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=200903112009031104161469466f6f08)
The 24-hour phone enquiry service, 139, started by the Indian Railways for the central and western zones is providing wrong information on train timings, seat availability and fares, claim some frequent travellers from the city. The travellers said that they missed their trains recently because operators of the 139 service, which charges Rs 2.40 for every enquiry lasting up to 2 minutes, provided them wrong arrival and departure timings.
When AM contacted railway officials, they acknowledged that they had received a litany of complains against the enquiry service, which is used by over 5 lakh people every day.The service was launched as a public-private initiative under the railways’ Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES) project in 2007. The avowed aim of the service is to provide accurate information to passengers over the phone so that they don’t have to face hassles at railway stations.
Neil Mani said that he missed his train, Ahmedabad-Patna Express, on Tuesday because the enquiry service provided him wrong departure timings. “The operator told me that the train would leave at 3.55 pm. When I reached the Kalupur station, I came to know that the train had left at 3.25 pm,” Mani, who has submitted a complain against the enquiry service, said.
A’bad duo miss Bhopal trip due to timing bungle
Jitendra Ruwal and M Ramakrishnan, who had booked tickets on the Rajkot-Jabalpur Express to reach Bhopal, said that they, too, missed their train because the enquiry service provided them wrong departure timing.
“We dialed 139 on February 2 to know what time the train would arrive. An operator told us that the train was late by 20 minutes, and would not arrive at its scheduled time of 6.55 pm,” Ruwal and Ramakrishnan said. The duo said that they dialed 139 twice, and were told that the train would not arrive before 8 pm.
“At 7 pm, an operator told us that there was a delay of 45 minutes. At 7.30 pm, another operator told us that we would have to wait at the station for at least for an hour,” the duo said. “However, when we reached the Kalupur station, we learnt that the train was late by only 10 minutes, and had left at 7.05 pm.”
Raviraj Shetty, who had booked a ticket on the Bikaner-Trivandrum Express to reach Mangalore, said that he failed to board the train because he was “misled by an operator of the 139 service”. “I missed my train on January 14 because I was given wrong departure timing,” Shetty said. “I called the 139 service three times. They told me the train would depart at 12.10 pm. However, when I reached the station at 11.30 am, I came to know that the train had left.”
Six complaints against 139 service this year
Officials of Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has implemented the service, confirmed that some people had missed their trains because the enquiry service provided incorrect arrival and departure timings. They also said that a 10-year contract for operating the service was given to Bharat BPO three years ago.
“We are aware of the problem: we have received six complaints this year itself,” the chief regional manager of IRCTC, Parvin Parmar, said. “Operators of the 139 service, at times, provide incorrect information because their database is not up-to-date. Railway divisions are responsible for updating the database.”
However, the divisional railway manager (Ahmedabad), Rajeev Misra, said that the database was updated at regular intervals. “As far as our division is concerned, information is updated every 15 minutes. Currently, information is updated manually. However, the entire process will be computerised in a month,” he said."
On February 2, an operator of the 139 service told us that our train would be late by an hour. When reached the station, we learnt that the train left a few minutes after its scheduled time" — Jitendra Ruwal and M Ramakrishnan
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=200903112009031104161469466f6f08)
The 24-hour phone enquiry service, 139, started by the Indian Railways for the central and western zones is providing wrong information on train timings, seat availability and fares, claim some frequent travellers from the city. The travellers said that they missed their trains recently because operators of the 139 service, which charges Rs 2.40 for every enquiry lasting up to 2 minutes, provided them wrong arrival and departure timings.
When AM contacted railway officials, they acknowledged that they had received a litany of complains against the enquiry service, which is used by over 5 lakh people every day.The service was launched as a public-private initiative under the railways’ Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES) project in 2007. The avowed aim of the service is to provide accurate information to passengers over the phone so that they don’t have to face hassles at railway stations.
Neil Mani said that he missed his train, Ahmedabad-Patna Express, on Tuesday because the enquiry service provided him wrong departure timings. “The operator told me that the train would leave at 3.55 pm. When I reached the Kalupur station, I came to know that the train had left at 3.25 pm,” Mani, who has submitted a complain against the enquiry service, said.
A’bad duo miss Bhopal trip due to timing bungle
Jitendra Ruwal and M Ramakrishnan, who had booked tickets on the Rajkot-Jabalpur Express to reach Bhopal, said that they, too, missed their train because the enquiry service provided them wrong departure timing.
“We dialed 139 on February 2 to know what time the train would arrive. An operator told us that the train was late by 20 minutes, and would not arrive at its scheduled time of 6.55 pm,” Ruwal and Ramakrishnan said. The duo said that they dialed 139 twice, and were told that the train would not arrive before 8 pm.
“At 7 pm, an operator told us that there was a delay of 45 minutes. At 7.30 pm, another operator told us that we would have to wait at the station for at least for an hour,” the duo said. “However, when we reached the Kalupur station, we learnt that the train was late by only 10 minutes, and had left at 7.05 pm.”
Raviraj Shetty, who had booked a ticket on the Bikaner-Trivandrum Express to reach Mangalore, said that he failed to board the train because he was “misled by an operator of the 139 service”. “I missed my train on January 14 because I was given wrong departure timing,” Shetty said. “I called the 139 service three times. They told me the train would depart at 12.10 pm. However, when I reached the station at 11.30 am, I came to know that the train had left.”
Six complaints against 139 service this year
Officials of Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has implemented the service, confirmed that some people had missed their trains because the enquiry service provided incorrect arrival and departure timings. They also said that a 10-year contract for operating the service was given to Bharat BPO three years ago.
“We are aware of the problem: we have received six complaints this year itself,” the chief regional manager of IRCTC, Parvin Parmar, said. “Operators of the 139 service, at times, provide incorrect information because their database is not up-to-date. Railway divisions are responsible for updating the database.”
However, the divisional railway manager (Ahmedabad), Rajeev Misra, said that the database was updated at regular intervals. “As far as our division is concerned, information is updated every 15 minutes. Currently, information is updated manually. However, the entire process will be computerised in a month,” he said."
On February 2, an operator of the 139 service told us that our train would be late by an hour. When reached the station, we learnt that the train left a few minutes after its scheduled time" — Jitendra Ruwal and M Ramakrishnan
