Tweet To The Rescue! 5 Times The Railways Used Twitter to Aid Passengers
Timely response from Indian Railways to passenger's SOS tweets have saved the day on numerous occasions.
Imagine that you are travelling by train and require assistance with something – a medical emergency perhaps – during your journey. What would be your best course of action?
Along with approaching your fellow travellers, the ticket checker or any onboard Railway Police personnel, don’t forget to send out a Tweet to the Indian Railways!
A tweet to the @RailMinIndia handle with a problem has proven very handy in several crucial occasions. Off late, the Railways has gotten quite good at using the social media platform to communicate efficiently with passengers, come to the rescue of the stranded or even investigate the suspicous.
Indeed, a timely response from the Indian Railways to a passenger’s SOS tweets has saved the day many times. Here are five such instances:
1. Adarsh Shrivastava was witness to a trafficking racket while travelling by train. Onboard the Muzaffarpur-Bandra-Awadh Express, he wanted an investigation when he saw a group of 26 girls on the train, crying and looking scared.
He created a Twitter account and put out a tweet mentioning all the details of the coach and the train. Fortunately for the girls, the Railways reacted with lightning speed and soon rescued the group.
Read here about how the girls were saved from a grim fate.
2. Namrata Mahajan was on an outstation train in Maharashtra, when she found herself stuck in a precarious situation. She was threatened by a male passenger, whose behaviour was becoming frightening. She sent out an urgent tweet, which received a prompt reply – asking for her PNR number. The Railways quickly organised CRPF Jawans to meet her at the next station and things were turned around for Mahajan.
Read the rest of her thrilling story here.
3. 27 students of Asian School, Dehradun, were on their way to Howrah, aboard the Kumbha Express. The train experienced delays due to track maintenance work, and the students were stranded for around seven hours.
Their teacher, Amit K Narmoli, tweeted the predicament to the Railways’ handle, and the latter responded by organising food packets for the hungry students. A heart-warming gesture indeed.
Read about how the food reached the students here.
4. As reported by The Hindu, Siddharth Roy of Kolkata alerted the Ministry of Railways through Twitter that his father, a neuro patient, was travelling alone in a train from Chennai to Howrah.
The Twitter controller was KVSRC Murthy, who was on duty in the Vijayawada division. The passenger was travelling in an unreserved compartment, yet he was identified, and promptly attended to with medical help. Things could have taken a very bad turn, but thankfully help was quickly at hand!
You may also like:– 84% Fewer Fatalities: How Indian Railways Recorded Best Safety Record in 5 Years
5. A passenger on the Yesvantpur-Bikaner train, Pankaj Jain, was travelling with his father, who suffers from paralysis. Pankaj was taking him to Butati Dham, Rajasthan, where free treatment is offered, with Merta Road being the closest stop.
The train barely stops for 3-5 minutes at the stop, and Pankaj needed help in alighting with his ailing father. A friend suggested he tweet the Railways. The national carrier swung into action to help Pankaj’s father, who got a wheelchair as well as help by attendants.
Read here about how the arrangements were made in a jiffy!
Social media not only has its amusements but can also help you out in a tricky situation. So keep this in mind the next time you take a train ride!
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
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