Title - Passengers panic as pests overrun dirty train bogies

CHENNAI: Southern Railway has clearly had little success in its attempts to eliminate pests on trains. Cockroaches and other insects swarmed into an AC III tier coach in Pandian Express on Thursday night, leaving passengers travelling from Madurai to Chennai bleary-eyed the next morning.

A passenger said a board near the toilet indicated that the coach had been fumigated on October 21. But that effort apparently had little effect on the bugs in the bogie.

"We could not sleep at night as pests started coming out of crevices on the sides of the berths," said Dr Jagannathan who travelled in B4 coach of Pandian Express. "They were small, black, cockroach-like insects. I managed to doze off but when I woke up in the middle of night I found that all passengers were sitting upright because of the insects."

Another passenger said he was afraid that the bugs would get into his ears.

Railway officials said passengers have lodged complaints about pests and rodents in AC II tier, AC III tier and sleeper coaches in different trains. 'Sleeper coaches are often dirty," Manoj Kumar, a regular traveller said. "Upper berths are often dusty and caked with grime."

Passengers who travelled by Navjeevan Express from Chennai to Ahmedabad two days ago had to suffer filthy coaches and toilets that were even dirtier. "Sleeper coaches in this train are often dirty," said Ashok Modi, who travels by the train frequently. "They do not appear to have been cleaned at all. It is very difficult to travel for 33 hours in such conditions."

Railway officials said dirty railway yards are probably why trains out of the state are infested with pests and rodents. Train care centres at Egmore and Basin Bridge, where most of the trains are prepared for departure, are soiled and grimy. "Garbage is not swept out of coaches regularly and this makes them a good place for pests and rodents to breed," an official said.

Pandian Express is cleaned at Egmore Railway Yard and Navjeevan Express at Basin Bridge Train Care Centre near Chennai Central. In spite of repeated complaints from employees, railway authorities have failed to take action and ensure that the train care centres are clean.

"Garbage is littered in different parts of the centres and food waste swept out of coaches falls into flooded pit lines," said a railway employee who works at the Basin Bridge centre. "There is no point in fumigating coaches without cleaning the train care centres. If coaches are cleaned in a hygienic place, there will not be rodents and pests in the coaches."

Officials often pass the buck when questioned about the horrible condition of the yards. A senior railway official said "steps are being taken to clean up" the yards.