RailEnquiry

NELLORE: The inquiry into the TN Express mishap by the commissioner, railway safety (CRM) Dinesh Kumar Singh on the second day on Friday revealed that there were many unreserved passengers travelling in the ill-fated S11 coach. Sources said that all the TTEs (train ticket examiners) who deposed before the CRS confirmed that there were several passengers either without confirmed tickets or without reservation in several coaches, including S11 which caught fire.Even as the commissioner, railway safety (CRS) Dinesh Kumar Singh conducted the enquiry for the second day here on Friday,The TTEs reportedly told the senior officials that most of such passengers boarded the train at Vijayawada, the last halt before the TN Express reaches Chennai. "Even if a TTE found unreserved passengers in the reserved coach after the train left Vijayawada, he cannot evict them as there are no halts between Vijayawada and Chennai," said a senior commercial wing official not wanting to be named. The TTE might have allowed them to travel after taking bribe but it is difficult to prove such charges at this stage, he observed.While the railway authorities themselves admitted that there could have been around 82-84 passengers travelling in S11, the actual tally could be more as per the eye-witnesses' accounts. The actual strength of a reserved bogie is only 72.

Normally, the wait-listed passengers are issued a general ticket and the extra fare difference (EFD) would be collected only after they get confirmation of a berth in a particular coach. However, rules were changed to make more money in the guise of facilitating the wait-listed passengers.

Accordingly, all the wait-listed passengers were being issued sleeper coach tickets, which gives them a right to enter the reserved coach even without a berth confirmationof a berth

. Stating that such follies were virtually making the railway bogies death traps, railway mazdoor union secretary P Swami Charan said that there would be no end to such accidents like Gautami Express and TN Express till the government took corrective measures. "Squad TTEs are given a target of collecting Rs two lakh per month, which makes the staff allow anyone in any coach to meet the targets," he alleged.