New Delhi: Indian Railways on Monday said ticket cancellations have not increased in the aftermath of tragedy in Odisha, unlike claimed by a Congress leader.
The department responsible for ticketing, IRCTC, dismissed the Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das’ claim that ‘Thousands of people have cancelled their tickets after the accident’.
‘Such a train accident has never happened in the past. Hundreds of people lost their lives and more than a thousand people were injured. This incident has hurt everyone. Thousands of people have cancelled their tickets after the accident. They feel that traveling in the train is not safe,’ the statement attributed to the Congress leader said.
Presenting data of ticket booking and cancellation following the tragedy, IRCTC hit back at the Congress saying that its claim was ‘factually incorrect’.
‘Cancellations have not increased. On the contrary, cancellations have reduced from 7.7 Lakh on 01.06.23 to 7.5 Lakh on 03.06.23,’ IRCTC tweeted.
The deadly crash on Friday claimed at least 278 lives, injuring close to 1000 people.
Speeding Coromandel Express train crashed into a stationary goods train, causing its cars to fall on the nearby track where Howrah Express train was passing.
The government has engaged the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe if there was any criminal tampering behind the crash.