Railways addresses 1.25 lakh queries on its helplines in 10 days of lockdown

The Indian Railways said on Monday its helplines for passengers has received 1.25 lakh queries in the first ten days of lockdown, 87 per cent of which were handled through direct human intervention.

The Railways had opened a control office after the 21-day lockdown was announced.

The control office is being manned by director-level officers, who monitor citizen feedback on social media and email, and ensure appropriate action is taken, especially in goods transportation.

The control office has been doing 24x7 monitoring of four communication platforms - Helplines- 139, 138, social media (Twitter) and email ([e-mail]).

"Since its inception a few days back, the facility has become a huge management success so much so that railway personnel have responded to over 1,25,000 queries in the first 10 days on designated communication platforms, 87 per cent (over 1,09,000) of which were handled through direct human interaction over the phone,” the national transporter said in a statement.

Helpline 139 answered over 80,000 queries on one-on-one basis in the first 10 days of the lockdown, in addition to queries answered by its IVRS facility.

"While the queries are mostly for commencement of train services and the relaxed refund rules, the social media is flush with appreciation of Railways’ efforts in these trying times.

"Some of the efforts lauded include running of freight trains carrying essential items, waiving penalties for late release of wagons, converting coaches into hospital wards, distribution of food packets, preparing PPEs, sanitisers and other equipment in the fight against coronavirus,” it said.