Delay in announcing Duronto time changes draws flak
VISAKHAPATNAM: The announcement of the new timings of 22203/22204 Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Duronto non-stop superfast at the eleventh hour has drawn flak from railway passengers travelling frequently to Secunderabad from the Port City.
M Yelvender Yadav, senior divisional commercial manager, Waltair division, East Coast Railways (ECoR) on Tuesday announced a change in the timings the Duronto, with departures from Vizag now scheduled at 8.15 pm from September 2, as against the existing departure timing of 10.30 pm. The train will now reach Secunderabad at 6.15 am...
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instead of 8 am. However, there is no change in the schedule of the returning train.
Criticizing railway officials, an irate frequent railway passenger and Andhra University employee P Narayana Swamy said that because of the last-minute announcement of the changed schedule of the Duronto many railway passengers like him had been forced to run around trying to get bookings for trains like Godavari Superfast despite the lack of seat availability. "I have already booked unconfirmed AC three tier tickets for Godavari Express for my daughter's journey on September 7. What is the point of announcing timing changes of key trains at the last minute?" said Swamy.
The lack of timely official intimation about timing changes is not only causing considerable inconvenience to railway passengers but has also resulted in seats going abegging in this otherwise much-in-demand train, whose fares are comparable to Godavari Express and travel time less.
On Tuesday evening when TOI checked the third AC seat availability of the two trains for journey on September 7, the status was waitlisted 15 for Godavari while Duronto showed availability of 492 seats.
While a third AC Godavari Express ticket costs Rs 1,045, including taxes, that of Duronto costs Rs 1,195, including taxes, as per the IRCTC website. Incidentally, the non-stop Duronto takes just 10 hours to cover the distance to Secunderabad while Godavari takes 12.20 hours as it has 20 stops en route.
As per reservation rules, passengers are allowed to book tickets of any train 60 days prior to the date of journey. Going by this rule, the change in Duronto timings should have been widely publicised in the first week of July itself, pointed out a frequent rail traveller.