Kids on snack trays in Vande Bharat Express; Railways issue appeal

November 25, 2023
India Railway Travel

Gandhinagar: There have been several instances reported while traveling in chair cars of Indian trains such as Vande Bharat Express, Shatabdi Express etc. when the snack trays, attached to the seats, were found to be broken, loose, or defective. Recently, a picture came to light where kids were sitting on such snack trays in Vande Bharat trains. Subsequently, Southern Railways took to social media to remind travelers that these trays are not meant to bear such weight.

In a post, Southern Railways said, “Let’s keep the joy in journeys! Snack trays are for treats, not for tiny feet. Say NO to turning snack trays into kids’ seats!”

The graphic included a picture of kids sitting on the trays and a message stating, “Snack trays are not designed to support weight and can break easily if used for this purpose.”

In fact, this picture has gone viral after a railway bureaucrat named Ananth Rupanagudi shared it on X, saying, “One of the main reasons for the breaking of snack trays or defective snack trays in Vande Bharat and other trains! Even with photographic evidence, some may claim that I am passing the blame only to passengers!”

In the picture, two kids can be seen seated on the two snack trays.

The post has garnered over 500,000 views, and several people have replied, offering suggestions such as warning signs and advocating for stricter norms for such passengers.

One user commented ,”Sir what do you think about railway staff in premium trains strictly enforcing these rules like Flight attendants? I mean people should be free to move about, but staff is vigilant for any vandalism or periodically walking the aisle so people can properly dispose of garbage and such.”

Another user wrote about the passengers “They won’t try doing this on a flight. Kaise kaise log rehte hai is Desh me.”

As the snack tray is affixed to the seat ahead, one user talked about the issue that the person sitting in that seat would face and wrote, “Imagine how inconvenient and disturbing it is for the person on the front seat to sit throughout the journey with constant shaking of the seat due to kids sitting on the tray attached to the front seat.”

Several people, on the other hand, suggested that the tray should be designed to bear more load. one such user wrote, “Sir, 1 of the key factors of successful product design is to take into account all possible uses (n potential abuses) of the product and design product to be safe from abuse too. This picture shows abuse of tray table (by putting more load on it). Why not design it for more load?”

One user wrote, “One option you can explore is to have a separate coach for parents with kids. Make a sturdy table/alternate arrangement and charge extra. This way both parents and other commuters especially will be happy. There won’t be babies crying around and it’ll ensure calm travel”

#Indian Railways

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