Indian Railways - Delayed Running and non-availability of passenger amenities

On May27, 2010 we were booked to travel by train no. 0656 from Pune Jn. to Chennai Central. When we reached Pune Station we were told that the train is delayed by 4 hours min. This got extended further and ultimately the train arrived 6 hours behind schedule. During the journey the delay got increase further and we reached the final destination by 13 hours behind schedule. The train had only 4 stops officially. Since we were not prepared for this inordinate delay we could not pack enough food to last the entire duration of the jouney. There was no pantry car attached to this train. This therefore forced us to buy food,water and drinks from stations, where these were sold at more than MRP printed. There were no security guards in the compartments to protect the passengers. No official was present at either final destination or any stations to take care of the passengers\' problems. Other holiday specials for shorter distances are being run with pantry cars. This delay has caused lot of irritation and especially older persons with diabetes etc. were finding it tough to get food at stations. The concerned official should conduct enquiry as to the extraordinary delay and pantry car must always be attached with all holiday special especially for distances exceeding 400 kms.