Central Railway mulling removal of side middle berths from Garib Rath

Central Railway mulling removal of side middle berths from Garib Rath

Nagpur: Nagpur Central Railway divisional railway manager (DRM) OP Singh on Tuesday said he will consider sending a proposal to remove side middle berths (SMBs) from Nagpur-Pune Garib Rath to the Railway Board. The berths have been roundly criticized for being extremely uncomfortable.

Despite vehement opposition from passengers, the SMBs have not been removed from this particular train. Pune Garib Rath is perhaps the only train which is still continuing with SMBs. Chennai-Nizamuddin Garib Rath is devoid of SMBs. How can there be two separate policies for same category of trains, ask passengers.

Talking to newsmen after the launch of 'Passenger and Customer Facilitation Fortnight' to be observed from May 26 to June 9, Singh said this programme is the first-of-its-kind in the history of Indian Railways. The detailed guidelines for the proposed fortnight programme were formulated and finalized at a high-level meeting convened by railways minister Suresh Prabhu.

The primary focus of the fortnight is basically towards passenger amenities and customer facilitation. Some burning issues at Nagpur station include lack of parking space on west side of the station, unauthorized vendors, safety, menace of touts etc.

Singh said, "We will try to resolve all the issues. On the east side, permission for prepaid autorickshaw booth has already been granted. Now, the RTO and traffic police department have to take the call."

On the second phase of Ram Jhula, the cable-stayed bridge over railway station, Singh reiterated that as per the agreement, MSRDC will have to pay Rs11 crore to the railways. "The money is not for any gains but for damages railways is going to suffer while dislodging the existing bridge," he said.

Singh admitted that work on 6.5km double line between Nagpur and Kalamna has been stalled in 200 metres as the railways is not getting police protection to remove encroachments. "Every time we get police protection, it is withdrawn at the last moment," Singh said. The project to streamline train traffic was announced in 2009.

Singh listed out many achievements during the last financial year some of the major one included revamping of base kitchen, increasing height of platforms at several stations, ticket booking counters, activation of passenger helpline numbers 138 (cleanliness and health) and 182 (safety of passengers) among host of other things.

Apart from Singh, South East Central Railway (SECR) DRM Alok Kansal too interacted with passengers at Gondia railway station as part of the fortnight. The DRMs have been asked to involve station managers for organizing and monitoring various activities on their respective stations.

What Is Proposed In Passenger Fortnight

* Inauguration/launching of completed projects

* Road shows & interaction of DRMs with passengers and other customers by visiting stations and travelling with public in suburban and other passenger trains

* Interaction with state government authorities

* Seeking public support for cleanliness and safety awareness campaign at unmanned level crossings

* Inspection of railway stations, drive about courtesy programme for the front-line staff, health check-up camps

* Intensive drive to check catering services, vigilance checks, intensive ticket checking drive, drive against touts etc

* Involving recognized railway unions in a big way

Source :Times of India.