The Hindu : 'Mumbai-Gujarat trains half-empty'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2002

Other States

Other States - Maharashtra

'Mumbai-Gujarat trains half-empty'

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI April 8. Trains run by the Western Railway between Mumbai and various destinations in Gujarat are ``going half empty'' for more than a month now and ``already, the losses are up to Rs. 40 crores,'' its General Manager, Mr. V. D. Gupta, said today.

He said this disruption in traffic was mainly due to the communal violence and the breakdown in trade and commerce, apart from the frequent curfew in Ahmedabad and some other towns.

A similar traffic decline had been noticed when Ahmedabad and Kutch and most other parts of the State was rocked by an earthquake on January 26 last year, but special trains were run to help evacuate the people. This time, there is a drop in the use of trains.

However, Mr. Gupta said ``there has been some improvement during the past few days'' but this was not enough.

At this time of the year, when ``long waitlists are the norm,'' seats are going abegging, an unusual phenomenon for the Western Railway. Virtually all trains on the Western Railway either terminate in Gujarat or traverse through it.

Actually, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is known as the ``golden corridor'' in official and business circles in Gujarat since most of the industrial and commercial development has taken place along this heavy-density route. Vapi, Valsad, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand are on this route.

Dilemma over AC coach

A prototype air-conditioned coach was tried out on the suburban railway system which acts as a lifeline for Mumbai city and, according to the Western Railway, people are willing to pay up to Rs. 6,000 and more a month to travel in comfort from Virar to Churchgate.

However, authorities are in a dilemma as to how to operate this service.

According to Mr. Gupta, the service ``cannot be subsidised'' and there were several problems to be solved.

Now, the one-way fare between Virar and Mumbai for class II is Rs. 14 and for class I, Rs. 146. A season ticket was not just a multiple by a factor of thirty. The ``minimum people are willing to pay is Rs. 4,000 a month and the maximum, Rs. 10,000'' and users have said ``we will avoid bringing cars into town.''

According to the prototype's design, the luggage van has been converted at Rs. 7 lakhs and can seat 17 and accommodate 18 as standees. But the question is how to cope with the additional demand. Should people have reserved seats, and if so, can they be expected to travel by fixed trains? ``It will be some time before we solve this,'' Mr. Gupta said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

Stories in this Section

'Mumbai-Gujarat trains half-empty'

Afroze case: Centre yet to respond to Maharashtra plea