Delayed, Tejas Express liable to pay Rs 100 each to 620 passengers

During this period, four long distance, including Tejas Express, and eight suburban trains were held for over an hour. Tejas Express was stuck between Bhayander and Mira Road from 10.27 am to 1.27 pm and reached Borivali at 1.58 pm.

A senior official from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said, “We took a special unscheduled halt at Andheri station as many of our passengers had to catch flights. The train reached Andheri at 2.12 pm and halted for three minutes, allowing those who had to reach the airport to get off.” The train finally reached Mumbai Central at 2.34 pm against its scheduled time of 1.10 pm.

IRCTC officials said at least 620 passengers, who were to get off at Mumbai Central, are eligible for Rs 100 “trip delay” coverage. “We will send a message to all these passengers with a link attached to apply for the delay,” said Rahul Himalayan, group general manager of IRCTC.

IRCTC will verify if the person who applies for the compensation had completed the full journey and got off at Mumbai Central before issuing the money. “It will be closely monitored whether the train is punctual as most of the passengers boarding from Vadodara and Surat come to Mumbai to board international flights, which usually depart after 8 am,” said an official.