Eyebrows raised as no Ngp halt for Delhi-Yeshwantpur Duronto

Nagpur: Call it an oversight or goof-up on part of the Indian Railways. The move to refuse a commercial stop to 12213/12214 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Yeshwatpur Duronto Express at Nagpur has sent many passengers fuming.
When Durontos were started in 2009 by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee, these were non-stop trains between two metro cities with only technical stoppages at some stations.
However, from January 1, 2016, Railway Board converted all technical halts of Duronto trains into commercial halts, and passengers who were earlier not allowed to travel from technical halts, were issued tickets for further destinations.
Nagpur being centrally located, Durontos from Howrah-Mumbai-Howrah, Howrah-Pune-Howrah, Chennai-Delhi-Chennai and Nizamuddin-Secunderabad-Nizamuddin pass through Nagpur. All these trains have commercial stops at Nagpur. Interestingly, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Yeshwantpur, which operates once a week, has still not been converted into a commercial halt.
“This seems to be a big blunder on part of the railway administration. Even a small satellite station like Habibganj near Bhopal and Jhansi have been granted commercial halts for Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Yeshwantpur but major station like Nagpur has been skipped,” says Ajay Gajbhiye, a regular traveller and analyst.
Surprisingly, the Nagpur Central Railway has granted commercial stoppage to Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Yeshwantpur at Ballarshah, a station smaller than Nagpur, from October 1. Why it skipped Nagpur is not known. Besides, 20 other mail/express and Rajdhani trains will have commercial stop at Ballarshah.
Gajbhiye says the goof-up on part of railways has deprived Nagpurians a train to Delhi and Bangalore, much frequented throughout the year.
“Moreover, timings of the Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Yashwantpur are convenient as the trains reaches Delhi and Bangalore in the morning. Why should passengers be deprived of this train, especially when all other Durontos have been provided commercial stops at Nagpur,” asks Gajbhiye.
Central Railway Senior Divisional Manager (SrDCM) KK Mishra said, “I’m really surprised. Actually, the proposal was supposed to be sent by the South Western Railway zone, from where the train belongs. I will inform this to the respective division.”