The Railway Ministry has received various complaints from passengers regarding the inconvenience faced by passengers due to oversleeping co-passengers. According to PTI, to reach a common ground, the railways have decided to reduce the official sleeping time by an hour in reserved train compartments.
The Railway Ministry has issued a circular stating that the passengers in reserved coaches can sleep only from 10 pm to 6 am. The other passengers should be allowed to sit on the seats the rest of the time. The circular requests passengers to cooperate with the sick, persons with disability, and pregnant ladies in case they want to sleep beyond permissible limits.
The current permissible limit is from 9 pm to 6 am to which ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said told PTI:
We had received feedback from officials 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.
This provision is applicable across all reserved coaches with sleeping accommodation. Another reason for this law being modified is that there were times when passengers went to sleep as soon as they boarded the train – day or night and the co-travellers have to face inconvenience. Sometimes they cannot eat or sit comfortably because people are sleeping in middle or lower berths.
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 to the seat on the lower berth between 10 pm and 6 am.
The new directive aims to enable ticket examiners(TTE) to solve such frequently occurring disputes between co-passengers and also prevent anyone from taking catnaps beyond the permissible time.
