CHENNAI: Chennai Central has become a temporary home to thousands of travellers headed to different parts of the country, with a vast number of trains being either cancelled or rescheduled owing to Tuesday’s rail accident near Arakkonam. The generally crowded Chennai Central was jammed with a sea of jolted passengers, with little space to even move. Making things worse was the apathy of Railway officials, who had neither the inclination nor the information required to help the stranded passengers.Passengers, who had no mooring in Chennai and were only passing through the city, have been forced to camp at Central, with families sitting or sleeping on whatever space that was available.Apathetic Railway officials, who seemed to have no training in a disaster scenario, only made things worse. If all this wasn’t already bad enough, blank, incorrect or misleading information boards kept stranded passengers in the dark throughout the day.While Southern Railways authorities scrambled to get some trains rescheduled to start from Chennai Egmore, the lack of disaster preparedness only ensured that thousands were left in the dark about their trains leaving from Egmore.All that was left for them to do was to run from counter to counter with a little effect. Fifty-year-old Tapam Dey, travelling with his 21-year-old daughter Esha of West Bengal, was dejected, having missed the Guwahati Express. '“At noon, the enquiry office officials said the train was cancelled. But when we went back after a while to ask for the new schedule, they said the Guwahati Express had left from Egmore at 3 pm,” said Esha Dey.“What can we do? Where can we stay? We are feeling alien in this place,” said Tapam Dey, who had come to Vellore for medical treatment.Those affected the most were travellers from northern parts of the country. Many of them, travelling as tourists or on pilgrimage, were found sleeping with their families on the platforms and waiting rooms, wondering what to do next.“It will cost more than Rs 3,000 for the entire family to stay in the hotel for a single day in Chennai. We don’t know the language and some of the locals make use of this as a chance to charge extra,” said a family from northern India, who had missed the Guwahati Express.The unplanned layover had caught others in a different set of shocking circumstances. Seventy-four-year-old Ganeshan of Vandavasi had come to the station with only Rs 50. His train, Navjeevan Express, was scheduled for 9.35am, but due to the accident, the authorities had rescheduled it to 5.30pm.“I went to the reservation counter to cancel the ticket, and asked the officials to give details of ticket availability, but they refused to provide any details,” said Ganeshan. “I called my son over phone, which cost Rs 10. Now I have only Rs40 left. I am wondering how I can travel such a long distance with this,” he added.Many of the stranded travellers sat in hunger, thanks to the high cost of food at the railway station. “I haven't eaten since morning. Lunch at a private hotel in the station costs Rs 120. I cannot afford it,” said 60-year-old Sivakumar.Sanitation too has become a problem, thanks to the stress on the facilities. “I have been to the US. Facilities for the passengers are very good there, and are free. We are made to pay for bathing or using the toilet, and even then the situation is bad,” said 60-year-old Ahil Kumar Sha.
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