New CR timings spark stir
Angry commuters say no new services have been added, but that the trains are running late almost every day.
The Central Railway’s new train timetable was designed to speed up services, but it has led to more daily delays and uncertainty, say commuters who staged two protests on Wednesday to demand more trains and a better schedule.
More than 3,000 commuters tied black bands on their arms at Asangaon station during the morning rush hour to express their annoyance at the new timetable. At Dombivli, several women (pictured) got onto tracks to protest the late arrival of a 10.34 am train. The women said that this particular local was always behind schedule, causing crowding at the station.
Commuters, however, claim the changes made to the schedule are cosmetic and that no new services have been added. They also say that timings of some of the popular services have been unnecessarily revised, which has upset their routine.
The timing of the first train from CST has been changed from 4.05 am to 4.12 am, whereas the last train now leaves the terminus at 12.30 am instead of 12.38 am.
“It’s a timetable of inconvenience. It seems train timings have been revised at random,” said activist Vandana Sonawane, who has been pressing railway authorities for better services. “The new schedule has led to more chaos at stations. Trains do not arrive at the time displayed on indicators and there are no proper announcements.”
Sonawane and other female commuters held a meeting at Dombivli station to discuss the issues on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, they plan to convey their demands to the divisional railway manager.
Earlier on Wednesday, several women staged a demonstration at Dombivli over delayed services. They stepped onto tracks, blocking a train.
“The new timetable is a farce. We have made so many suggestions to Central Railway, but none of the ideas have been incorporated,” said Vishwanath Dhatrak, general secretary of Karjat-Kasara Passengers’ Association. “We wanted more services beyond Kalyan, but no announcements have been made in this regard.”
Dhatrak and others members of the association gathered at Asangaon station and wore black bands on their arms as a mark of protest, and urged other passengers to do the same. They travelled on trains wearing the bands.
Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of another passenger body, Upanagariya Pravasi Railway Mahasangh, said that CR was yet to introduce more than 72 services that were announced in the past two railway budgets.
“When will these services be added? Suggestions have been made at various meetings between railway officials and representatives of passenger associations, but nothing has materialised,” he said, adding members of his association would also meet the divisional manager on Thursday to press for more services.
A senior CR official said that they cannot introduce more services at the moment as they don’t have enough trains. Apart from speeding up existing services, the train schedule had also been changed to provide CR more time to carry out daily maintenance on the network, he said.
CR used to previously get 208 hours in a year to carry out maintenance work. But growing traffic of commuter and freight trains on the 315-km-long network afforded CR only 100 hours for repairs. Poor maintenance led to more rail fractures, which resulted in frequent disruptions. The new timetable gives CR an additional 15 minutes every day for repairs.
“The new schedule was introduced only a few days ago so there are bound to be some initial hiccups,” the official said, referring to the delays.
An official from CR’s operations department said that one of the major features of the new schedule was the distance the trains covered. “The revised schedule has enabled trains to cover 45,220 km of distance in a day instead of the earlier 44,572 km,” he said.
CR has actually extended some short-distance services. For instance, the Kalyan-Dadar local now terminates at CST. “We have also introduced four new services: Dadar-Kalyan, Kalyan-Thane, Khopoli-Karjat and Karjat-Khopoli,” the official said.
However, four services have also been cancelled, which means the overall number remains the same at 825. Also, no changes have been made on Harbour and Trans-Harbour Lines.
“Some of the fast trains have shaved off between two and five minutes because of the new schedule,” the official said.
Dombivli graphic designer Digamber Tawde, however, sees little logic in extending some short-distance services to CST. “Instead of terminating at Dadar, some trains now travel up to CST. This has affected their turnaround time and resulted in overcrowding at stations,” he said.
Architect Jagdeep Desai said Central Railway should consider implementing a cyclic timetable. “In such a schedule, certain services run every 12 minutes, which helps reduce crowding at stations. Even if a passenger misses his or her train, the person knows there will be another service soon,” Desai said.
Subhash Gupta of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, a CR-recognised platform for commuters, said that authorities had not bothered to check with the body before revising the schedule.
CR Divisional Manager Mukesh Nigam said that the new schedule provided the railways 15 more minutes every day for carrying out maintenance.
The Central Railway’s new train timetable was designed to speed up services, but it has led to more daily delays and uncertainty, say commuters who staged two protests on Wednesday to demand more trains and a better schedule.
More than 3,000 commuters tied black bands on their arms at Asangaon station during the morning rush hour to express their annoyance at the new timetable. At Dombivli, several women (pictured) got onto tracks to protest the late arrival of a 10.34 am train. The women said that this particular local was always behind schedule, causing crowding at the station.
CR, which runs more than 1,600 suburban services every day, revised train timings and introduced a new schedule on November 15. Railway officials say the total distance CR trains travel in a day has been increased from 44,572 to 45,220 km.
Commuters, however, claim the changes made to the schedule are cosmetic and that no new services have been added. They also say that timings of some of the popular services have been unnecessarily revised, which has upset their routine.
The timing of the first train from CST has been changed from 4.05 am to 4.12 am, whereas the last train now leaves the terminus at 12.30 am instead of 12.38 am.
“It’s a timetable of inconvenience. It seems train timings have been revised at random,” said activist Vandana Sonawane, who has been pressing railway authorities for better services. “The new schedule has led to more chaos at stations. Trains do not arrive at the time displayed on indicators and there are no proper announcements.”
Sonawane and other female commuters held a meeting at Dombivli station to discuss the issues on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, they plan to convey their demands to the divisional railway manager.
Earlier on Wednesday, several women staged a demonstration at Dombivli over delayed services. They stepped onto tracks, blocking a train.
“The new timetable is a farce. We have made so many suggestions to Central Railway, but none of the ideas have been incorporated,” said Vishwanath Dhatrak, general secretary of Karjat-Kasara Passengers’ Association. “We wanted more services beyond Kalyan, but no announcements have been made in this regard.”
Dhatrak and others members of the association gathered at Asangaon station and wore black bands on their arms as a mark of protest, and urged other passengers to do the same. They travelled on trains wearing the bands.
Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of another passenger body, Upanagariya Pravasi Railway Mahasangh, said that CR was yet to introduce more than 72 services that were announced in the past two railway budgets.
“When will these services be added? Suggestions have been made at various meetings between railway officials and representatives of passenger associations, but nothing has materialised,” he said, adding members of his association would also meet the divisional manager on Thursday to press for more services.
A senior CR official said that they cannot introduce more services at the moment as they don’t have enough trains. Apart from speeding up existing services, the train schedule had also been changed to provide CR more time to carry out daily maintenance on the network, he said.
CR used to previously get 208 hours in a year to carry out maintenance work. But growing traffic of commuter and freight trains on the 315-km-long network afforded CR only 100 hours for repairs. Poor maintenance led to more rail fractures, which resulted in frequent disruptions. The new timetable gives CR an additional 15 minutes every day for repairs.
“The new schedule was introduced only a few days ago so there are bound to be some initial hiccups,” the official said, referring to the delays.
An official from CR’s operations department said that one of the major features of the new schedule was the distance the trains covered. “The revised schedule has enabled trains to cover 45,220 km of distance in a day instead of the earlier 44,572 km,” he said.
CR has actually extended some short-distance services. For instance, the Kalyan-Dadar local now terminates at CST. “We have also introduced four new services: Dadar-Kalyan, Kalyan-Thane, Khopoli-Karjat and Karjat-Khopoli,” the official said.
However, four services have also been cancelled, which means the overall number remains the same at 825. Also, no changes have been made on Harbour and Trans-Harbour Lines.
“Some of the fast trains have shaved off between two and five minutes because of the new schedule,” the official said.
Dombivli graphic designer Digamber Tawde, however, sees little logic in extending some short-distance services to CST. “Instead of terminating at Dadar, some trains now travel up to CST. This has affected their turnaround time and resulted in overcrowding at stations,” he said.
Architect Jagdeep Desai said Central Railway should consider implementing a cyclic timetable. “In such a schedule, certain services run every 12 minutes, which helps reduce crowding at stations. Even if a passenger misses his or her train, the person knows there will be another service soon,” Desai said.
Subhash Gupta of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, a CR-recognised platform for commuters, said that authorities had not bothered to check with the body before revising the schedule.
CR Divisional Manager Mukesh Nigam said that the new schedule provided the railways 15 more minutes every day for carrying out maintenance.
