Railway has reduced sleeping hours for passengers in train

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

If you are a train traveller and enjoy sleeping for nine hours i.e. in between 9 pm to 6 am during journey then beware because Railway has decided to reduce the official sleeping hours in its trains by one hour.

In its effort to provide a comfortable travel to its passengers and put an end to those unnecessary quarrels that break out due to oversleeping passengers on different berths, the Railways has reduced the official sleeping hours by an hour.

The latest circular by the railway board says that the passengers in the reserved coaches can only sleep between 10 pm- 6 am to allow others to sit on the seats for the rest of the time. The earlier permissible sleep time was between 9 pm and 6 am.
The new rule will be applicable to all reserved coaches with sleeping facilities. The circular, however, makes an exception for sick people, persons with disability, and pregnant women.

“We had received feedback regarding issues between passengers over sleeping arrangements. We already have a rule in place. However, we wanted to clarify it and ensure it is followed,” said Railways ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena.

The sleeping time was reduced by an hour because some passengers go to sleep as soon as they board the train leaving their fellow travellers on different berths irritated. “It happens all the time on trains. Once, there was a passenger on the lower berth who slept during journey from Kolkata to Delhi, while the man on the upper berth had to remain there and others on the middle berth sat perched in one corner of the lower berth through the trip,” said Aditya Prakash, a student.

Officials said that the problem is more acute for side berths. The circular has clarified that a person booked on side upper berth will not have any claim of seat on the lower berth between 10 pm and 6 am.