Overcrowded sleeper coach in Bidar-Yesvantpur Express causes delay, raises concerns

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A viral photograph of an overcrowded coach of the Bidar-Yesvantpur Express has triggered widespread concern on social media. Shared by a netizen named Ramesh on May 16, the image captured a sleeper coach jam-packed with general ticket passengers.

Ramesh took to Twitter to express his frustration, stating, "Condition of Bidar-YPR train yesterday. All general ticket passengers in SL coaches. It arrived at YPR at 10.30 instead of 7.40 am. Causing 3 hours delay to 1000's of passengers. Day by day, punctuality and these issues are increasing." Ramesh further urged the authorities to introduce a new train route from Bengaluru to Bidar via Kalaburagi, while also emphasising the need to increase the number of sleeper (SL) and general seating (GS) coaches.

According to him, a large number of working-class individuals from North Karnataka rely on this particular train for their commute. Unfortunately, the situation did not improve on the following day as Ramesh reported, "Right now it's running 2 hours 46 minutes late," in a tweet posted on May 17.

The post quickly gained attention, garnering over 1.1 million views, 2,728 re-tweets, 243 quotes, and 8,559 likes as of 5:30 pm on May 18. In response to Ramesh's tweet, Railway Seva assured him that the matter had been escalated to the official concerned for necessary action. However, one netizen expressed concern about the future, stating, "Instead of increasing general bogies, passenger trains and sleeper coaches, the Railways wants to run only AC Vande Bharat trains," referring to the popular high-speed train.

Another user echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that the overcrowded condition seen in the viral photo was a common occurrence on various Indian trains throughout the year. They questioned whether the focus should be on improving the quality of journeys or investing funds in a few luxury Vande Bharat Express trains.