Southern Railway — Cockroaches aboard train

Address:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

HORROR JOURNEY

I had booked my tickets between Coimbatore and Chennai on Duronto Express on 8th October 2011. I was travelling with my family (me, my wife, son & daughter). We travelled in Coach# C3 - seats 46, 47, 48 & 49. This is supposed to be a prestigious non-stop train of the Indian Railways.

When I boarded the coach I was shocked to see the dilapidated condition of our coach. The shock & horror had just started.

1. The coach was unclean to begin with. No cleaning was done prior to our boarding, leaving garbage everywhere in the coach - floors, front pouches, next to arm rests, in between seats.
2. Food was arranged on the floor before it was being served to the passengers. I saw two sets of spoons (plastic & tied by rubber band) on the floor. Once food was served, these were gone. Not sure who were served these spoons.
3. Food Warmer. I will let my photo speak themselves. Once the food was served and food warmer switched off, this machine was teeming with cockroaches.
4. Cockroaches were everywhere - floors, toilets, windows, curtains, seats, armrests!!! :-( EVERYWHERE
5. When dinner was served the cockroaches came in their hundreds and swamped the area. My daughter and son refused to have food seeing the cockroaches running right next to the food. I am sure beggars in some cities would have a dignified meal. This was the way Indian a.k.a Southern Railways is treating is Full Fare Paying Passenger in the MOST PRESTIGIOUS TRAIN. Finally both my kids went hungry. No parent would like to see this.
6. When my daughter saw cockroaches on the seat & armrests, she refused to sit in the seat and was standing for more than 90 mins.
7. There were quite a few kids in our coach, including babies and I shudder to think of the repercussions of a pest bite on them.

All these (especially when my kids refused food and went hungry) made me furious and I called in the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) of my coach C3. While he (Mr. Salim) pleaded his inability to help, he asked me to file a written complaint. Off we walked almost 9+ coaches to find that the Guard Room (where the Complaint Register is kept) is inaccessible. I also learnt that there is no Train Superintendent which used to be the case earlier. Finally the TTE gave me a blank paper and asked me to file a written complaint. On seeing my plight, other passengers joined in to sign my complaint. I have handed over the complaint in the sincere hope that it will reach the concerned authorities.

The mental agony of this journey is going to linger a long time in my & my family's memory. My daughter is already scared and is refusing to travel by train. Travelling by Indian Railways used to be every child's dream and I loved every journey of mine till date.

If there is some humanity left in any higher up of the Indian/Southern Railways reading this, I am sure they will take action and ensure no one ever faces this situation.