Woman Travelling Alone Finds Seat Occupied By Other Passengers; Here's How Railways Helped

Overcrowding in trains remains a persistent and pressing issue, often resulting in discomfort, safety hazards, and frustration for passengers. Despite receiving numerous complaints regarding passengers travelling on unconfirmed tickets, thereby leaving no space for ticket holders on trains, the problem persists unabated.

A recent incident further underscores the severity of this issue. A woman holding a confirmed ticket on the Doon Express found herself in a distressing situation when she discovered her seat occupied by other passengers upon boarding the train.

The woman’s elder sister took to X to express the harrowing experience her sister endured on the Doon Express. Sharing her sister’s ordeal on the micro-blogging platform, she recounted how her sister was forced to confront passengers who adamantly refused to vacate her rightful seat. The situation escalated until the Railway Protection Force (RPF) intervention became necessary to resolve the dispute and restore order.

The X user wrote, “For the first time, my younger sister is travelling alone by train. Anyhow, we got our ticket confirmed at the last moment, and the train arrived 3 hours late.”

Providing additional details, the user revealed that the woman boarded the train between Rishikesh and Howrah on February 18, only to discover a man occupying her designated berth along with his entire family. Despite the woman’s polite request for them to vacate the berth she had rightfully booked, the man reacted aggressively and began shouting at her, escalating the already tense situation.

The woman’s sister continued to narrate the distressing ordeal on X, expressing how the man reacted aggressively and began lecturing her sister when she requested him to vacate the berth. This confrontation left her sister feeling unwell, and despite her discomfort, she was forced to sit on the upper berth along with three other passengers. The sister expressed her helplessness from her current location, feeling deeply worried about her sister’s well-being.

In her plea for assistance, she shared screenshots of the situation, her sister’s confirmed ticket, and photos showing the entire lower berth occupied by other passengers. Desperate for guidance or any available services to aid her sister in such a distressing situation, she reached out to the online community for support and assistance.

A text exchange between the two sisters also showed the woman travelling in a train expressing that she was ‘left in tears’ by the whole experience.

Watch the tweet below:

Since being shared, the post went viral garnering the attention of many viewers online. Many urged the user to call the ‘Rail Madad helpline,’ an app by Indian Railways. Others raged with anger hearing the situation.

Eventually, as suggested by the X user, her sister contacted Rail Madad (139) for help and officers from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) reached the train and got the seat vacated within 20 minutes.

The post pulled in more than 6 lakh views and over 2,000 likes.