Travel safe: Complaint centre set to redress issues

KARACHI:

Good news for college students and other people who frequently travel by train, the railway department has launched a complaint centre to redress problems they face.

The 24-hour complaint centre was launched on the orders of the railway minister, Khawaja Saad Rafique, said Pakistan Railway upper divisional clerk Muhammad Arif.

He told The Express Tribune how a few women travelling from Karachi to Sialkot were harassed by some men. "A few men got inside the ladies' compartment and started harassing them," he said. "It was 10 in the night when I received a call from one of the ladies. I immediately informed the railway control room in Hyderabad, where the train was supposed to stop over. The railway police intervened and arrested the men."

Arif looks after the complaint centre in the divisional superintendent office, Karachi. According to him, it has been working for the last two months and is doing quite well in resolving the complaints faced by passengers.

"Earlier, it was very dangerous for women to travel alone," he pointed out. "It is very common these days that students travel across the country by train, which could be dangerous. Not anymore. We are here round the clock to address any untoward issue."

According to Arif, any complaint regarding railway from Karachi to Tando Adam is taken up by the centre, which takes a day to resolve the complaints. "During the last two months, we have received a 150 complaints and resolved each of them," he said.

"Not only do we resolve it, but we get back to the complainant and inform him that his complaint has been resolved," said railway divisional commissioner officer Nasir Nazir.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2015.