'Passenger trains yet to run to Nelamangala' - same old story
Hindu reported this weekend that SWR is yet to start trains to Nelamangala. Story here, key excerpts:
Odd timings for the trains that are supposed to to run ...
Even the timetable had been announced for the service giving Train Nos. 56579/580, ... was to depart Bangalore City at 11.40 am and reach Nelamangala at 12.40 am. In the return direction, it was to leave Nelamangala at 3 pm and reach Bangalore City at 4 pm.
... is noticed by a resident. Common sense, isn't it?
Lokesh, a resident of Nelamangala, told The Hindu that though the proposed timetable was not suitable for office-goers, it would have made a beginning as far as train services were concerned. He said the Railways should also introduce passenger trains in the mornings and evenings since hundreds of people travel between Nelamangala and Bangalore.
Another resident interviewed echoes the need for commuter rail
According to K.N. Krishnaprasad, an enthusiast on train services, Nelamangala, located about 22 km away from Bangalore, is a fast developing satellite town. Passenger train services in the morning and evenings would definitely attract many people to get settled in Nelamangala even as the services would have benefited the existing travelers too. It would also have decongested the national highway of private vehicles, he added.
Basically, same old story. Neglect train tracks for all use other than freight or inter city trains. Because thats not what SWR's focus or mandate is.
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Today's TOI report - "Behind schedule" trains bangarpet-BLR
Feel bad for daily-wagers who rely on trains for transporting them to work stations and back.
'Behind schedule' trains eat into workers' wages
This was from today's TOI.
An electrician by profession, Usmaan is expected to reach his employer's shop in Shivajinagar by 10.30 am latest. But many a times, he makes it only by 11 or delayed further only to be sent back by his boss.
According to workers who commute every day from Bangarpet to Bangalore city, there are three trains in the morning that fetch thousands of people from the area but all the three are behind the schedule for months now.
Commuters blame unscheduled stoppages by trains mid-way for giving way to goods and express trains for the schedule going for a toss. "We contacted the station master in Whitefield but he did not pay heed to our problem. He gave a blunt reply, saying there is nothing that he can do about it. When we asked for the complaint book to register our plaint, we were not provided the same," says Imtiaz A, another aggrieved commuter.
Total ignorance from the railways for this commuter train. Railway authorities have been not thinking about these daily wagers who uses commuter train for their daily commute.
Deepak
Behind schedule trains
The Bangarpet route has a large number of commuter passengers. On some trips to Kerala I have found myself in a stuffed train with all these "commuters" in the reserved compartment who get down at Bangarpet. There are also rail passenger associations in many of these places. There is one in Hosur and one in Bangarpet and Kolar. It would be great to link up with such groups.
Maybe the author of this story in the times (Garima Prasher) garima.prasher@timesgroup.com will be able to link us with some of these aggrieved passengers?