After several people posted videos and photos of poorly-managed trains, overcrowded with allegedly ticketless passengers, the official X handle of the Ministry of Railways on Saturday addressed claims and asked people to “not malign” the image of Indian Railways.
Reacting to a video reshared by X handle @kapsology, saying, “The crowd has reached one of the most premium coaches of Indian trains,” the ministry replied to it with another video showing an almost-empty coach. “The present video of the coach. No overcrowding. Please don’t malign the image of Indian Railways by sharing misleading videos,” the Ministry tweeted.
However, the reply didn’t go down well as many X users expressed bewilderment over the logic behind posting a video filmed on a random train (possibly on Saturday) to counter a claim of overcrowding tweeted on April 14.
The ministry’s response received heavy criticism on social media, with one user stating, “You should’ve waited for a year to do the fact check.” “You are here to serve the citizens by listening to their concerns. What pathetic response is this?,” another user commented.
Another criticised, “Ministry of Railways – You are publicly refusing to acknowledge real grievances of passengers (with video proofs)? And instead, you are calling them liars? Unbelievable, such arrogance.” A fourth user highlighted the prevalent issues on trains, urging for preventive measures instead of solely focusing on the ministry’s image.
Official data reveals a surge in train trips this summer for Indian Railways, reaching a record-breaking 9,111 trips nationwide. Central Railways is contributing around 488 trips, originating 246 from the Pune division and 226 solely from Pune station, the Indian Express reported.
According to railway officials, overcrowding is due to increased summer travel and people returning to hometowns to cast vote for Lok Sabha elections. To alleviate this, 18 summer special trains are planned, primarily serving northern destinations, the IE report stated.
