Patna: Railways helped 106 passengers, including 67 women stranded in flood-hit Nepal, continue their journey to Nagpur by making special arrangements on the Patna-Purna Express on Saturday.Most of the passengers were tourists who had travelled to Nepal and were stranded after flash floods disrupted movement in the neighbouring country. They were brought to Patna from Sitamarhi in state govt buses before the railways stepped in to facilitate their onward travel.Danapur senior divisional commercial manager Abhinav Siddharth said special ticket counters were opened at Patna Junction on Friday night to issue tickets and arrange confirmed berths for the stranded passengers by releasing headquarters quota. “All 106 passengers boarded the Patna-Purna Express, which departed from Patna at around 7.40am on Saturday,” he said.The railways also stationed a medical team at Patna Junction to provide immediate assistance to passengers, many of whom had endured considerable hardship while returning from flood-hit areas of Nepal. Senior railway officials, ticket-checking staff and Railway Protection Force personnel were deployed at the station to assist the passengers. Porters were also engaged to help them.East Central Railway chief public relations officer Saraswati Chandra said the arrangements were made as a humanitarian measure to ensure the stranded passengers reached their destinations safely. “The initiative provided much-needed relief to tourists and other passengers affected by the flash floods in Nepal,” he said, adding that two additional 3AC coaches were attached to the Patna-Purna Express to accommodate all the passengers.Passengers expressed gratitude for the assistance extended by the railways. Lila Raut (66), Nanda Pandey (62) and Rekha (60) said the confirmed berths came as a huge relief at a difficult time.
