Poor facilities add to public inconvenience

LUCKNOW: There is no end to passengers' misery as trains continue to arrive several hours behind the schedule at Charbagh station due to fog. But what further add to their troubles are the poor arrangements at the station.
Since the waiting rooms remain packed most of the time, a large number of passengers have to wait for their trains on the platforms in the winter chill.Many have also complained about railway staff not providing timely and accurate information about the delayed trains.
The restaurants and stalls at platforms also ran out of meals in the wake of heavy footfall. While the city is making a desperate bid for better ranking in Swachh survey, toilets at Charbagh station present a dirty picture.
Rahul Singh came to board the Mathura-Chappra Express on Saturday. "I arrived at the station around 7am as the scheduled departure was at 7.20am. Railways announced the train was late by 90 minutes. After two hours again we were informed that the train was further delayed by an hour. The train eventually arrived at 4pm," said Rahul.
"When I complained to the station master about stinking and dirty toilets he told me that he was only responsible for signal and train operation information. There was no one to clean the toilets at night," said Shikha Verma, a passenger.
NER PRO Alok Kumar said, "Due to winter vacations, the footfall of passengers has increased manifold. Late arrival of trains, too, leads to heavy rush. We are trying our best to ensure passengers do not face inconvenince."