Patna: A train in India was instructed to speed up so that a student could reach her examination centre in time.
The student, Nazia Tabassum, a resident of Ghazipur city in Uttar Pradesh, was to appear at a test for a Diploma in Elementary Education (Del Ed) (fourth semester) at a girls’ inter college in Varanasi town on Wednesday noon.
As per the reports, the girl had reserved her seat in Chapra-Varanasi City Intercity Express to reach the examination centre in Varanasi. The examination was scheduled to begin at 12 noon.
However, by the time the train coming from Chapra junction in Bihar reached Mau town in Uttar Pradesh to pick up the girl who was to board the train along with her brother, it was two-and-a-half hours late. The train reached Mau station at 9.18 am, instead of 6.25 am which was the original arrival time while the examinee was required to reach Varanasi station latest by 11 am so as to reach the centre on time.
Realising she would not be able to reach the exam centre on time given the delayed journey, the girl’s brother Anwar Jamal sent a tweet to the railways authorities requesting help.
“Train is delayed by 02:27 hrs. And my sister’s exam will start from 12 O’clock in Varanasi. So please help to reach,” Jamal tweeted. The railways authorities promptly responded by asking him to “provide mobile number through Direct Message (DM) Via this link”.
Increase speed
Instantly, the train driver was directed by the railway control room to increase the speed of the train and reach Varanasi station in the next two hours. Finally, the train reached the station at 11 am which allowed Nazia to reach the exam centre on time.
Twitter users thanked the Indian railways for the great work. “I feel proud of my Indian railways for the first time,” tweeted Deep Hans Kashyap. Niyaz Ahmad Ansari tweeted, “What a great help!!! Humanity is still alive. My India is great”.
Railway authorities said the train was delayed due to ongoing works on the Chapra-Phephna rail route. “Train speed had been blocked following trial on this route but was asked to make up the time later with proper care,” a public relation officer with Indian railway Ashok Kumar told the media on Thursday.
