Janshatabdi Express will not ply today

AURANGABAD: Jalna-Dadar-Jalna Janshatabdi Express — the fastest daily train to Mumbai via Aurangabad — has been cancelled and it will not ply on December 25. The South Central Railway (SCR) made an announcement to this effect on Tuesday. The train will not run due to various reasons, including the construction of a new foot-overbridge between Dombivali and Kalyan stations. Passengers have condemned the cancellation of the train taking into account the timing of the announcement and the manner in which it was communicated. Railway activist Omprakash Varma said cancelling an important train a day before its scheduled journey during the peak travel season was nothing short of outrageous. “It is a clear case of how railway authorities take the passenger community for granted. It also highlights the ill-planning of the railway authorities to undertake traffic block works at a time when people chalk out their travel plans.” Raj Somani, another railway activist, said, “The top railway authorities must be punished for such poor management of affairs. The cancellation of the Janshatabdi Express is a huge inconvenience to passengers.” When contacted, CR chief public relation officer Shivaji Sutar said the authorities tried their best to squeeze the block timings to minimum four hours in order to ensure less number of trains are affected. “The FoB is an important passenger amenity and the work needs to expedited.” When asked about the alleged ill timing of the traffic block , Sutar said other works were slotted for other days. Rajesh Shinde, public relations officer for SCR’s Nanded division, said passengers who had booked their journeys through Janshatabdi Express would get 100% refund. Jalna-Dadar-Jalna Janshatabdi Express has only five halts and takes only six hours to reach the state capital covering Jalna, Aurangabad, Manmad, Nashik, Kalyan and Thane.