The plan of Indian Railways to extend the operations of Gatimaan Express from Jhansi to Bhopal, running parallel to the existing Bhopal Shatabdi Express has attracted ire from the frequent Delhi-Agra route travellers who are claiming that the railways is bent on destroying a perfectly good train that was a tourist attraction right now.
They claim that the railways is unable to maintain the timetable of long-haul train routes and the trains are suffering from poor maintenance, including malfunctioning air conditioning in most trains and if the Gatimaan Express too is extended up to Bhopal, it will face the same set of problems and will lose its reputation of being perhaps one of the very few trains on the Indian Railway network, that actually adheres to the timetable.
When this issue was brought to the notice of the General Manager Central Railways M C Chauhan, he ordered his subordinate officials to immediately remedy the problem of trains running hours late than their timetable. He also ordered the engineering staff to ensure that the air conditioning on all trains is working perfectly and without any complaints.
Talking to India Today, Chauhan said that the Semi-High Speed Train Gatimaan has posted some very good results and there has been a marked improvement in its occupancy, resulting in long waiting queues for this train. The railway is planning to increase this train’s speed from the present 130 kmph to 160 kmph and if the test results are positive, then the train could be extended till Bhopal, but this will require three engines to be attached to the train in tandem, besides improving the quality of railway tracks past Agra. He said that the Railways is also laying the fourth line between Mathura and Palwal, which will increase the number of trains plying between Delhi and Mathura. The process of laying the third line between Mathura and Agra is also going to start very soon.
Answering a question on the recent fire incident in the AP Express, he said that the firefighting equipment on all stations are being upgraded following that incident and an inquiry has been instituted into the causes of this fire.
He further said that at present, 11 per cent more goods trains are running on the tracks and this figure will further improve with the activation of the dedicated freight corridor. He said that the railway officials have also been instructed to take steps to end the stray dog and monkey menace on the railway stations and to also take feedback from the frequent passengers on how to improve the facilities on the stations.
Expressing his surprise at the GM’s meeting, Divisional Railway Passenger Advisory Committee member Rajkumar Nagrath said that the GM should have invited the committee members to know about their feedback but instead, he held meeting with a select few local public representatives, which was unfair. He said that the suggestions made by the committee in its previous meetings are yet to be implemented and there is no hope that the current assurances of the GM will change anything in this context. india today
