LCDs damaged, headphones stolen: Tejas express in a mess after its first run

The first run of Tejas Express from Mumbai to Goa began amid much fanfare but in the end, the coaches were left in a mess.

LCD screens damaged, missing headphones, unclean toilets and litter everywhere. Tejas Express was reduced to a mess right after its first run. The high-speed train from Mumbai to Goa that was flagged off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on Monday was a picture of public apathy at the end of its first trip.

Railway officials claimed that passengers had caused damaged to the semi-luxurious train, LCD screens were scratched, high-quality headphones were stolen and the toilets were soiled. While authorities expected some mess at the end of Tejas Express' maiden journey, the damage caused to the train came as a shocker to them.

The damage was brought to the notice of railway authorities after passengers who travelled on the high-speed train consequently raised the matter. Passengers claimed that they were not given headphones to connect to LCD screens. Authorities claimed that at least 12 headphones had gone missing after the express' maiden journey. Complaints about inactive Wi-fi were also raised.

According to media reports, passengers had attempted to remove the LCD screen by pulling on its hinges. Passengers who took the express after its maiden journey alleged claimed that railway authorities had to fix some of the LCDs that were damaged. Just one hour into the journey, the state-of-the-art toilets, a combination of a bio and a vacuum toilet, began to stink as people did not bother to use the flush.

Maintenance staff complained of how the situation of coaches was no different from other trains. The floor of the train was littered with cups, pet bottles, wrappers and bags of chips.

The 20-coach Tejas Express is the first Indian Railways' train to have automatic doors and secured gangways for all coaches. Automatic doors are operational only in metro trains in the country, while gangways in trains are open from the sides.

OneIndia News