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| New Train Time Table |
The new railway timetable, which comes into force from July 1, was released on Wednesday. However, the Railway Boardhas refused to accept ground reality, and continued with the standard timings of trains to and from Howrah. This will continue to inconvenience thousands of passengers, who are 'misguided' by the train timings put up at railway stations, in time tables and on railway websites, and inconvenienced by the actual timings of the trains.
For over a year now, Howrah-bound trains through Nagpur have been running on rescheduled timings, which are very odd hours for passengers in the region. This will continue as per the new timetable released by the Nagpur Division of Central Railway.
The railways resorted to indefinite rescheduling of trains from Howrah after Maoists blew up Jnaneswari Express on May 28, at Jhargam in West Bengal, killing over 150 passengers. Train services on Kharagpur-Rourkela-Adra section under the South Eastern Railway (SER) remain suspended from 10pm to 5am. Over half a dozen trains are delayed by five to eight hours every day, causing inconvenience to passengers. The new time table does not address this problem.
Consumer rights activist AV Prabhune said, "While returning from Mumbai, I had to board the rescheduled 18209 Mumbai-Howrah Mail at 4am from CSTM instead of the original time of 8.35pm. It is very difficult to reach the station at 4am in Mumbai, so passengers have to sleep at the station. Besides, the entire day is wasted in travelling."
Passengers are also deceived while booking tickets, since all time tables and even the railway website fail to mention the rescheduled timings. For example, 12101 Jnaneshwari Express should start from CSTM at 8.35pm and reach Nagpur at 9.50am, but the rescheduled train arrives at Nagpur at 4.30pm.
Other trains on the route like 12151 Samrasta Express, 12129/12130 Azad Hind Express, 12834 Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, 12102 Howrah-LTT Express, 12906 Howrah-Porbandar Okha Express, 12152 Howrah-LTT Samrasta Express and others also affected similarly.
All these trains run 7-8 hours late, reaching Mumabi in the afternoon, and hence are very inconvenient for passengers. So, travellers are left with no choice but to travel by 12106 Gondia-Mumbai Vidarbha Express and triweekly 12290 Duronto Express, which reach Mumbai early in the morning.
"Instead of taking site-specific measures and studying the problem, the railways is beating about the bush. It's high time the Railway Board reconsiders rescheduling of the trains," said Basant Shukla, general secretary of Bharatiya Yatri Kendra(BYK).
Prabhune said the distance between Mumbai and Howrah is 1,968km. The stretch affected by Maoists is 250-300km, till Chakradharpur-Rourkela. "Why are thousands of passengers travelling over the rest 1,600km suffering. Why this surrender to Naxals?" asks Prabhune.
"We've full sympathy with those hit by Naxalism, but the railways should not punish 80% passengers travelling in 1,600km stretch for 20% travelling in the affected patches," Shukla said.
For over a year now, Howrah-bound trains through Nagpur have been running on rescheduled timings, which are very odd hours for passengers in the region. This will continue as per the new timetable released by the Nagpur Division of Central Railway.
The railways resorted to indefinite rescheduling of trains from Howrah after Maoists blew up Jnaneswari Express on May 28, at Jhargam in West Bengal, killing over 150 passengers. Train services on Kharagpur-Rourkela-Adra section under the South Eastern Railway (SER) remain suspended from 10pm to 5am. Over half a dozen trains are delayed by five to eight hours every day, causing inconvenience to passengers. The new time table does not address this problem.
Consumer rights activist AV Prabhune said, "While returning from Mumbai, I had to board the rescheduled 18209 Mumbai-Howrah Mail at 4am from CSTM instead of the original time of 8.35pm. It is very difficult to reach the station at 4am in Mumbai, so passengers have to sleep at the station. Besides, the entire day is wasted in travelling."
Passengers are also deceived while booking tickets, since all time tables and even the railway website fail to mention the rescheduled timings. For example, 12101 Jnaneshwari Express should start from CSTM at 8.35pm and reach Nagpur at 9.50am, but the rescheduled train arrives at Nagpur at 4.30pm.
Other trains on the route like 12151 Samrasta Express, 12129/12130 Azad Hind Express, 12834 Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, 12102 Howrah-LTT Express, 12906 Howrah-Porbandar Okha Express, 12152 Howrah-LTT Samrasta Express and others also affected similarly.
All these trains run 7-8 hours late, reaching Mumabi in the afternoon, and hence are very inconvenient for passengers. So, travellers are left with no choice but to travel by 12106 Gondia-Mumbai Vidarbha Express and triweekly 12290 Duronto Express, which reach Mumbai early in the morning.
"Instead of taking site-specific measures and studying the problem, the railways is beating about the bush. It's high time the Railway Board reconsiders rescheduling of the trains," said Basant Shukla, general secretary of Bharatiya Yatri Kendra(BYK).
Prabhune said the distance between Mumbai and Howrah is 1,968km. The stretch affected by Maoists is 250-300km, till Chakradharpur-Rourkela. "Why are thousands of passengers travelling over the rest 1,600km suffering. Why this surrender to Naxals?" asks Prabhune.
"We've full sympathy with those hit by Naxalism, but the railways should not punish 80% passengers travelling in 1,600km stretch for 20% travelling in the affected patches," Shukla said.
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