Indian Railways — Loss due to wrong data from IVSR

Address:

Ernakulam, Kerala

Date : June 11, 2011

Dear Sir;

I was to travel with my family from Aluva (Kerala) to New Delhi by yesterday's (June 10th) Mangala Lakshadweep Express (12617). I had a confirmed ticket (PNR [protected]). The train departure time printed on the ticket was 11:10 but with an additional advise to reconfirm the time before departure. There were news reports that from yesterday the train timings would change due to the Monsoons. Hence I called up the Railway Enquiry through IVRS and after asking me for my train number and date of journey, it told me that the train would leave Aluva at 13:30. The same was also confirmed on the websites of Indian Railways and Southern Railways. I had tried to call the Aluva station to make a final enquiry as they are still on manual mode but their phone lines were not working for the past 2 days. Hence with these confirmations from IR's online systems I reached Aluva station with family at 1pm yesterday. I was horrified to learn that the train had left at 11:10 am as printed on my ticket and the data given to me by the various online systems of the Indian Railway were wrong. I brought this to the notice of the Station Master but he was helpless.

This error on the part of the Indian Railways has put me to a lot a hardship. First I missed the train and as I need to be in Delhi with family positively by Sunday evening, we have no other option but to take a flight today, which is costing me around Rs. 28,000/-. Further the cancellation of the 2A tickets makes me loose another Rs. 4,000/- (TDR requested).

I find it very stressful, both mentally and financially, as this loss was due to the implicit faith I reposed on the 'Award Winning' IVRS System of the Railways. I met a lot of passengers at the Aluva station who had suffered similarly to me. I request you to look into the matter and ensure that I get 100% refund as the missing of the train was entirely due to Indian Railway's faulty IVRS System.

With Regards;

Prakash N Menon
+91 [protected]