In a first, Indian Railways will pay compensation of ₹ 250 to each passenger of Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express who travelled on board on Saturday. The first corporatised train of Indian Railways -- Tejas Express -- was delayed for about two hours in both the directions.
About 451 passengers boarded train from Lucknow and around 500 people took the train from New Delhi. It is the first time that the passengers of Indian Railways will receive compensation for delayed journey. All the passengers will compensation of Rs 250 each by IRCTC.
The chief regional manager (CRM), IRCTC, Lucknow, Ashwini Srivastava said, "We have sent the link to each of the passengers mobile clicking on which they can claim compensation. Those who do will get compensation."
On Saturday, Tejas express was scheduled to depart at 6.10 am from Lucknow station, however, the train started at around 8.55 am and reached New Delhi railway station around 3.40 pm instead of 12.25 pm. Consequently, the train departed from New Delhi at around 5.30 pm instead of 3.35 pm. The train then reached Lucknow at 11.30 pm instead of 10.05 pm.
Besides the compensation, the passengers were served with extra tea to make up the delay. The lunch and refreshment packets had "sorry for the delay" printed on them.
It is to be noted that the Railways will pay compensation only if the train reaches its destination late. If the train manages to make up the lost time despite departing late from the scheduled time from the starting station, passengers will not be given any compensation.
If the train reaches its destination late, despite starting on time from originating station, the passengers will be compensated.
An official said that the train will operate on time on Sunday. Operated by IRCTC, Tejas Express was flagged off on October 4 from Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
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