Kochi, Wednesday 16 March 2010: Passengers of the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Thuronto Express who reached here on Monday recounted their harrowing journey in the non-stop train without water and proper food. Many toilets of the brand-new train did not function.

At the Ernakulam Junction railway station, they bore placards of how the train gave them a ‘duranta’ (catastrophic) journey for two days. They complained of not getting sufficient food, water and tea, despite it being included in the travel fare.

Very often, the passengers were given stale food. The supply of water was limited to a bottle per passenger. Since it was a non-stop train, people could not buy food from outside. Worse still, many of the ‘modern’ toilets in the train did not function well and even the crew did not know how to operate them. Water too was scarce, they said.

A few passengers spoke of how some Railway officials on board the train threatened those who complained of the shabby treatment meted out to them.