CHENNAI: It was a tough day at office for Southern Railway officials here on Sunday with hundreds of passengers, stranded at the Chennai Central station due to rescheduling of several major trains following the stir in Telangana, queuing up to complain lack of basic amenities at the station.Passengers of the Tamil Nadu Express, the departure of which was rescheduled by four hours to 2 am, were irked by constant revisions made by the officials on the information board and demanded proper communication. They said it was only after a quarrel with the authorities that the proper departure time was put up.Teachers of the B.V.B Matriculation School in Erode, who had accompanied over 190 students between the ages of 11 and 15 on a tour to New Delhi, said a major starting point like Chennai Central had minimum space for resting and the authorities were not even allowing them to use the verandah outside the dormitories.“Despite pleading with them that the majority of the group were girl students, they shooed us away from even using the verandah. We had to take up the issue with the Station Manager. The Railways has to provide some basic resting facilities in extraordinary times like these,” said a teacher.Apart from a place to rest, passengers were also critical about the drinking water supply in the station and said many taps were dry and this forced them to buy bottled water. Lakshmi, a 77-year-old arthritis patient waiting for her train, said she had to walk all the way to the platform, as her son, who had accompanied her, could not find a wheel-chair. “Though we asked the people at information centre they made him loiter here and there. At last, I decided to walk despite an inflammation on my right foot,” she said.Several persons who made a visit to the office of the Station Manager said the stir had ruined important assignments. “I am scheduled to write a banking exam the day after. But now my train (Delhi-Duronto Express) has been delayed by 24 hours.’’
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