Overview
- A video that first circulated on July 7 showed a First AC two-berth coupe on the Nandigram Express lavishly decorated with balloons, fairy lights, thousands of rose petals and an “I Love You” display.
- Railway officials say the decoration was done after an event firm entered the coach without permission at Jalna station on July 6, a breach South Central Railway calls a serious lapse.
- Chief Ticket Inspector Girish Kumar has been suspended pending a departmental inquiry while the decorating company has been booked under provisions of the Railway Act for unauthorised entry, travelling without a valid ticket and trespass.
- The decorating firm says it prepared the coupe before the couple boarded and that it was hired by the travellers, but authorities stress the case is about procedure and security rather than the private celebration itself.
- The episode has split public reaction between praise for the gesture and concerns about fire, cleanliness and access rules, and it raises pressure on Indian Railways to set clearer rules for approved on-board services and personalised events.