NEW DELHI: The Great Rail Journeys is sending teams from the UK to take care of the British tourists who were travelling by the derailed train to Shimla.NEW DELHI: The Great Rail Journeys which organised the tour of 36 Britons to Shimla on the ill-fated chartered toy train has in a statement said that its team from the UK has arrived in Chandigarh, the city nearest to the place of the derailment incident of Saturday.
The Great Rail Journeys CEO, Peter Liney, stated on Sunday, "The FCO is assisting in the support of the families of the deceased in India and its team is on the ground in Chandigarh. Our own emergency response team from the UK is now in Chandigarh and is responding to individual customer needs. Two of our passengers and our Tour Manager remain in hospital overnight.
"Some of our passengers have continued the tour to Shimla. Tonight they will be met there by a Senior Manager from Great Rail Journeys' head office and tomorrow they will be met by a new Tour Manager, prior to continuing their trip. The remaining passengers are in Chandigarh; they are meeting our senior company representatives at the moment.
"We understand that some may also wish to continue the tour, and we will of course organise this.
"Naturally, we will also make arrangements for any who chose to return to the UK, and those clients will be escorted by a Tour Manager who will arrive in Chandigarh tomorrow. All those involved have been offered counselling, with an experienced counsellor now present in Chandigarh. The offer of counselling will
remain open for as long as it proves necessary. We continue to monitor the situation closely from our York offices, and to assist the families of those involved as much as possible. The new Tour Manager is flying out from the UK today and will be in Shimla on Monday.
Two passengers and the Tour Manager have been admitted overnight. All other passengers have now been transferred to a hotel.
A earlier statement said, "A total of 36 passengers plus one Tour Manager were on the train when the accident took place. They were all travelling on a 13-day tour of India and were on day three. The accident took place at 1 pm Indian time. The passengers were travelling on a four-carriage tourist train that had
been chartered by us for the trip.
"Great Rail Journeys has sent a Director and two Senior Managers to the scene on the first available flight departing today, Saturday 12th September, together with two qualified counsellors. Tomorrow we will be sending a further team of three experienced Tour Managers to provide on-the-spot support and assistance.
The FCO is liaising with Great Rail Journeys to assist with the speedy issue of visas.
