Destination northeast

About 2,000 people hailing from the Northeastern States, predominantly from Assam, boarded three special trains at the Chennai Central Railway Station, which reached the city from Bengaluru in the wee hours of Saturday, sources with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) said.

Eight additional coaches were attached to the Guwahati-bound special trains in Chennai to facilitate the travel of hundreds of panic-stricken people, who thronged the Central Railway Station after a chain of notorious SMS messages triggered an exodus. “I reached Central Station from Bengaluru to take the train,” said Pulamiji, a youth belonging to Darjeeling in West Bengal. Stating that he was a first-year student of English Literature in a Bengaluru college, Pulamiji said, “Though we were not really affected by the ongoing violence and mayhem, my parents back in my home town are worried about my safety. I am desperate to meet them.”

Speaking on behalf of a group, largely comprising college students, Pulamiji was seen pleading with the police to give them preference to board the first available train since they were students.

Personnel of the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force present at the station regulated the home-bound people, who poured in since Friday morning. The passengers were divided in batches and escorted to empty coaches that were attached to the trains at the Central Station.

Even as the people seated on Platform 10 at the Central Railway Station kept their fingers crossed on the uncertain journey, those who were travelling from Bengaluru experienced several problems. Absence of a pantry car, a few coaches with toilet facilities and cramped compartments added to their woes.

Ironically, some of the available toilets were encroached upon by commuters. “I had my dinner inside this toilet,” said Sushil Tumsing from Guwahati, who was found squatting over an Indian-style toilet in the special train.

“I had never travelled under such horrible conditions in my lifetime,” Tumsing, an employee with a ship at Goa, said. He reached Bengaluru to take the special train to Assam.

Another Mizoram-bound passenger complained that the train had several problems but they did not have a choice but to take the inconvenient trains to reach their respective States.