They had already reached the Vasco railway station on Wednesday to catch the train back to their native villages when they learned that South-Western Railways (SWR) had cancelled the service.
According to information, the Central, South-Central, Western, South-East Central, Southern and West Central Railways had advised cancellation/diversion of mail/express and passenger trains due to a fire in Itarsi station’s route relay cabin in Bhopal Division of West-Central Railways. As the Vasco-Patna express uses the same route, SWR officials cancelled it and issued a notice of the same a few hours before the train could leave.
Angry passengers stated that Itarsi incident happened a few days ago, and that they were informed only after reaching the railway station. A commuter Prafull Tiwari said, “We came here without any idea that the train had been cancelled only a few hours before the train’s departure. It is a unhealthy practice as it leads to a lot of confusion and inconvenience to the passengers.”
The stranded commuters were also annoyed that the Vasco railway officials put up notices at some places, but did not designate anyone to assist the passengers.
Meanwhile, sources at Vasco railway station stated that they had received information about the cancellation from Hubli Division only on Tuesday night, and they had no time to make a formal announcement, which led to the confusion on Wednesday.
