The actual experience of several passengers appears to have been much worse. On Saturday, 11 November, a passenger died in a stampede at the Surat railway station. At least one passenger, Anshul Sharma, with an AC ticket to Ratlam, took to X to thank the Railways for ruining his Diwali. which he wanted to spend with his parents, but was thrown out of the compartment by ticketless travellers, he complained.
Worse, when he sought help from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), they apparently dismissed his complaint with a laugh. His complaint, posted on WhatsApp, elicited the reply that at the next station at Prayagraj (Allahabad), Railway staff would attend to him. Sharma, of course, failed to board the train and was stranded in Surat. Several other bona fide passengers were similarly stranded, he claimed.
“No help from the Police. Many people like me were not able to board. I want a total refund of ₹1173.95,” Sharma posted and tagged railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the divisional railway manager (DRM) Vadodara.
“The labour crowd threw me out of the train. They locked the doors, and they did not let anyone enter the train. Police said clearly no to help me and started laughing at the situation,” he added. DRM Vadodara responded on social media, urging the railway police to look into the incident.
User Rohini Singh referred to a recent post by Vaishnaw and wrote: “Time for Vaishaw to do another cutesy ‘looking like a wow’ post. Keeping up with trends matters more than simple governance!”