Thane: Residents using the Konkan route to travel to Keralaand Karnataka are planning to boycott the service this summer over bad facilities. Instead, they feel that travelling by air is cheaper, faster and also better.
Residents have been repeatedly complaining to the railway officials about bad services, but all these have fallen on deaf ears. A group of passenger activists from the Malayalee community who travel to the coastal belt met in the city on Sunday evening to discuss their apathy with the railway authorities.They complained of trains running behind schedule, lack of facilities, badly-maintained coaches and poor hospitality even in the AC coaches, frequent instances of theft, etc. Travellers are also planning to urge their community to boycott using the train services and opt for flights as are much affordable if booked in advance. ”We are demanding better facilities from the railways. We often pay a huge amount to travel by train but the services are pathetic. We will present our demand before the railway authorities next week and if they do not heed to it then we will urge our community members to stop patronizing the railways,” said Shashi Nair, a passenger activist from Thane.
Meanwhile, railway authorities said that passengers can alert the onboard train staff about any deficiency in services or tweet to the respective zonal railway.