Railway officials board 300 ticketless travellers to Vande Bharat from Howrah; Chaos erupts inside

A major disruption occurred at Howrah Station when a Delhi-bound special train, already running four hours late, departed without any official announcement. This led to massive passenger protests, prompting the railway authorities to handle the situation by allowing approximately three hundred passengers without reserved tickets to board the Vande Bharat Express, dramatically escalating the chaos.

The agitated passengers quickly surrounded the Enquiry Office, the Station Master’s Office, and the Deputy SM's Office, causing immense disruption that confused other travellers early in the morning. The railway authorities decided on an unusual solution: they announced that the passengers who missed the Delhi special train would be accommodated on the Gaya Vande Bharat Express.

Consequently, an estimated 250 to 300 passengers, none of whom held valid reserved tickets for the train, boarded the Vande Bharat. This spontaneous overcrowding caused the Vande Bharat Express to depart significantly late from Howrah. The train, a premium service, reached its first stop, Durgapur, half an hour behind its scheduled time, compromising the travel experience for the genuine ticket holders.

Passengers who had reserved tickets for the Vande Bharat Express complained bitterly that they had to bear the brunt of the railway’s mismanagement. They alleged that the passengers without tickets occupied their reserved seats, sat randomly throughout the coaches, crowded the washrooms, and some even resorted to snatching food from the pantry car.