Central Railway penalises Jan Shatabdi catering contractor

The Central Railway (CR) on Wednesday fined its catering contractor on the Mumbai-Goa Jan Shatabdi Express, following DNA’s Tuesday report on passenger complaints about a huge barrel placed at one of the doors of the train.

“We have taken action with respect to the complaint and removed the barrel. We have also fined the contractor Rs5,000,” Central Railway spokesperson Vidyadhar Malegaonkar said. “The same contractor was earlier fined Rs10,000 for a similar complaint.”

Initially, officials of both the Central Railway and the Konkan Railway (KR) had passed the blame on each other, saying that the Han Shatabdi Express ran through the other authority’s jurisdiction.

Following DNA’s report, however, the Central Railway  stepped forward and accepted the responsibility for passenger’s inconvenience on the train.

Passengers on the train had complained that the catering staff on the 2051 Mumbai-Madgaon train had placed a huge barrel at one of the doors, leading to crowding in the area during boarding and alighting.

The barrel was used as a makeshift refrigerator containing ice cubes and cold water to keep bottles of water and beverages cold.