Title - A train of discomfort for Keralites

By Express News Service - KOCHI

27th December 2012 08:51 AM

It has been nothing short of a nightmare for passengers of the Amritsar- Kochuveli Express that set forth journey on September 23 from Amritsar.

The train, which had a number of home-bound Malayali passengers from Delhi, Gujarat, Mumbai and Goa for Christmas, had several of its coaches without even water in the toilet. Their hygiene level was nothing short of abysmal.

Water could be seen leaking across some coaches from washbasins. Passengers of S4 coach had to place cardboards en masse on the floor to prevent leaked water from dampening their luggage. Most of the toilets had leaking pipes and dysfunctional flushes. Several doors were damaged.

“These old coaches should be scrapped. Why should people suffer like this? We are paying  money and getting such terrible facilities. I will lodge a complaint with the authorities,” said John Joseph, a passenger who travelled from Ambala to Kollam.

People were seen running to and fro to find a proper toilet. Toilets were outrageously unhygienic owing to the lack of water. Another issue was that some of the coaches had no windowpanes and passengers had to bear the brunt of severe chill that is prevailing in northern states. Numerous mice had made the dirty coaches their permanent home. Passengers could be seen getting down at whatever stations the train stopped in an attempt to get a breather from the dirt.

“During my 40 years of travel on trains, I have never seen a tr