Writes : KOUSIK SEN
In Pc :The Tebhaga Express before the departure at the Balurghat station on Monday
The Calcutta-bound Tebhaga Express left Balurghat around four hours behind schedule on Monday morning as the driver had refused to start the train without adequate sleep.
The same driver had operated the express from Calcutta to Balurghat and it reached the destination at 3.30am on Monday. The scheduled arrival time was 10.35pm on Sunday, but the train was delayed by around five hours because of fog and other reasons.
The train is supposed to leave Balurghat at 5.30am and reach Calcutta at 2.25pm. But on Monday, the driver started the train after 9.30am.
"The train was late by almost four hours. The driver told us that he needed adequate sleep or else, he couldn't drive the train back to Calcutta. He then went to sleep," said Chandan Kumar Mondal, the station-in-charge of Balurghat.
Passengers started arriving at the station around 5am and became furious as there was delay in the train's departure. "The train was at the platform but there was no indication when it would leave. I was waiting for some time and then went to the railway office at the platform to know the reason for the delay. I learnt that the driver had refused to run the train without adequate sleep," said Kamal Kumar Saha, a passenger.
Source said there was no second driver at the Balurghat station who could have operated the train.
Asked why there was no second driver, the station-in-charge said: "I have informed senior officials and have nothing else to comment."
Many travellers lost patience and left the station to board a bus or use other conveyance mode to reach their destinations. Others stood at the station or sat in the coaches, waiting for the driver to wake up.
"The driver took rest for almost six hours and the train left after 9.30am," said a passenger.
Senior railway officials of Katihar division of the Northeast Frontier Railway under which Balurghat falls did not speak on the issue.
Telegraph Report
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