Srinagar
Despite chilling weather conditions, the trains that chug between Banihal in Jammu division to Baramulla in the northern part of Kashmir are without windowpanes. The passengers who travel in trains have expressed resentment over the lack of maintenance of the train bogeys.
The passengers have to brave the freezing temperatures as the gushing winds enter the train.
“I am working at a department in Srinagar and have to reach my workplace by 10:30 am. I leave at 8:30 in the morning when there is chilling temperature and it gets colder when we board the train,” a resident of Qazigund said. He said when he reaches the office, his legs barely support him and by the time he reaches office he clings to a heater. Besides, most of the seats in the train are torn and have not been repaired till now.
The officials blamed the passengers for breaking the window panes and cutting seats. “Who breaks these windows? Obviously, passengers,” one official of the Northern railway said.
“The passengers in the valley have yet not realized that the train is a public property and damage to it may cause inconvenience to them only,” he said.
He said that out of the six rakes, they have repaired five and the work on the sixth rake is going on.
