Industry, others pin hopes on railway budget

BHOPAL: Bhopal may be lucky this time if it gets direct trains to Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai from Bhopal in railway budget. Industry and railway associations have been demanding long distance trains from capital. West Central Railways (WCR) is looking forward to railway budget, which will be presented by Union minister Suresh Prabhu on February 26, sources in railways said.
Time table committee meeting was held recently, where proposal for trains to Mumbai, Howrah, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad from Habibganj or Bhopal was sent by WCR. There is need for better connectivity to east, west and south from Bhopal. “A lot of students from eastern states like Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal come to Bhopal to study. There is an urgent need for more direct trains to Patna, Ranchi and Kolkata. Besides, we also need trains to Bangalore and Hyderabad, which originate from Bhopal. Currently, all south-bound trains originate from New Delhi. Hence pressure is huge and there are barely any seat available,” said Himanshu Khare, member of Federation of Madhya Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FMPCCI). Talking to TOI, Railway Passengers and Consumer Association Bhopal general secretary Niranjan Wadhwani said, “We need Habibganj-LTT train to become daily. There are hardly seats for Mumbai in other trains. Besides, a train for Pune is required.” Three railway crossings in Bhopal in E-8, Habibganj Naka and Subhash Nagar should be scrapped and replaced with bridges.
“These cost people a lot of time and money. Traffic is also impeded. Frequency of trains is high in Bhopal and they are often closed,” Khare said. Khare was of opinion that instead of escalators, travelators like Habibganj should be installed everywhere. “Elderly people carrying luggage find it difficult to use escalators.” Jabalpur-Gondia broad gauge conversion awaits clearance from Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) for a 14 km stretch through Kanha National Park in Mandla. “Due to delays, cost of the cost has escalated from around 511 crore to 1,100 crore. The conversion would reduce travel time to Nagpur by more than three hours.”