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Thursday March 28, 2024

Wagon conductors rude, insensitive to passengers

By Ibne Ahmad
October 22, 2017

Impolite behaviour seems to be the norm currently. It applies equally on the conductors of the wagons and passengers. I've lost count of the times when passengers spread out their legs far out of their seat zone and elbows that encroached over the sitting passengers. It's unbearable behaviour especially for anyone who doesn't like being forcibly pressed up against some strange man for a stifling long time.

"Lately, due to the relocation of my office at a far-off place, I have lost the luxury of walking to and from work, enjoying the exercise and fresh air when it was located near my house. Now I have to commute daily on the wagon, ah the acute discomfort," says Rustam Ali from Fazal Town.

"I am also unfortunate enough not to be one of the lucky ones who don't have to endure being crammed into the wagons like animals," says Khawar Mehdi, a finance ministry employee from Taajabad.

"I more or less manage to get a seat on each of my journeys on the overcrowded wagons, but after going through a lot of argument with the unmanageable conductors of the vehicles as they don't allow you to sit on the seat of your choice even if it is empty. Every person that comes to board the wagon they ask him to sit on the rear seats of the vehicle. If you are lucky enough to sit on the front seats, they make you leave the front seats in case of arrival of the lady passengers," complains Rizwan Naqvi, a daily wagon traveler, from Fazal Town Phase-I.  "To add insult to the injury, if you are seated near the door of the wagon, the wagon conductor will make the new passengers stand over your head in the absence of any vacant seat. Not just one or two passengers, he will pack in the available space as many passengers as he can," adds Rizwan Naqvi.

"There are also passengers selfish and rude, making themselves at home by callously touching their filthy feet onto other passengers while jumping for the seat at the back of the wagon.  Some put their mucky feet on the seat as well while crossing over. Later on, there is nothing shoddier to find that your clothes are filthy by the dirty residue from someone's muddy feet," says Nisar Hussain from Faisal Colony.

"Some passengers like to spread out their baggage or other belongings on the seat. Some shoppers think that the stuff they have just bought is more entitled to the seat than the person who has paid for a ticket. Isn't it amazing," says Tanvir Hasan from Mangraal Town.

"On one occasion, an altercation occurred when a passenger shrugged his shoulders and said where I can put my luggage; your problem isn't my problem," narrated Nazim Hussain from Dhoke Hafiz.

"Then, there are some indifferent passengers who tend to spread out their legs, thus leaving little room for the standing passengers to stay comfortably," says Azmat Ali, resident of Gulzar-e-Quaid, out of his own experience.

Najaf Ali from Dhoke Muhammad Khan says: "Once I politely asked a young passenger sitting alone on a two-seater to move a bit to make room for me and he looked at me as if I abused him."  "I travel a lot by wagon. Although I am the sufferer of a long commute, I can stand up inside the wagon for anyone who is older than me," says Jafar Abbas, a college student.