PUNE: Railway passengers are upset with the Budget 2020 presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Hundreds of passengers from North India were expecting announcement of new trains or expansion of existing weekly trains to bi-weekly.
Thousands of people are residing in Pune for education, jobs and work. The Railway is the only option for them to travel to their hometown. Trains going from Pune to Chandigarh, Lucknow, Gorakhpur are Darbhanga weekly and bi-weekly. Some trains are running every day but the waiting list is always high, especially during peak seasons like summer vacations and festivals.
Activists are also demanding increase in frequency between Pune and Daund. They requested the Central Railway General Manager to start trains between Lonavla and Daund. However, there was no change.
Vikas Deshpande of Pune-Daund Commuters’ Group, said there’s no clarity how the government plans to push the incomplete projects in Pune Division and rest of Maharashtra.
“Commuters of Indian Railways who chose to travel in trains because it’s cheaper, want it to become comfortable and safe. While the Budget made some grand announcements about solar panels and Tejas trains, nothing was said about completing the projects announced previously,” said Deshpande.
Passengers expected that trains from Pune to Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Darbhanga would be made bi-weekly in this Budget.
As many as 4.5 lakh citizens, especially from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are residing in Pune and there is only a single train running between Pune and Patna daily and three other trains running weekly. The passengers’ group claims that the waiting list of these trains is always higher than that for other trains.
Pune-Darbhanga Pravasi Sangh Chairman Deepak Singh Thakur said, “A large number of people come from Mithilanchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh to Pune for work and education. The number is increasing day by day. Unfortunately, only one train runs daily from Pune to Patna and Pune-Darbhanga is weekly.”
According to General Secretary of the Sangh Ajay Kumar Mishra, “We were expecting the existing train Pune-Darbhanga would be made bi-weekly in this Budget. The Finance Minister did not announce any new train or increased frequency.”