Originating trains from Visakhapatnam bound for various destinations are not being allocated ‘pantry cars’ by the Bhubaneswar headquartered East Coast Railway (ECoR) despite repeated pleas from passengers. When BH Suryanarayana of Sujatha Nagar, in the city, lodged a grievance with the Railway Board for provision of a pantry car for the Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Janmabhoomi Express, authorities concerned replied that priority was being given to trains that run for 24 hours or more in this regard.
Following the logic of the Railway Board it becomes difficult to understand why ECoR headquarters is denying pantry cars to half-a-dozen originating express trains from Vizag to Mumbai, Bhagat-ki-Kothi, Kollam, Shirdi and Gandhidham, which run for 27 to 48 hours, covering distances ranging between 1,403 km and 2,068 km.
It is apparent to the passengers that such decisions are not driven by logic alone.
On the other hand Secunderabad headquartered South Central Railway has augmented 46,150 additional berths including 35,200 III tier AC berths on various trains operated by it to clear the extra rush of passengers during the summer vacation. The additional III AC berths are now much sought after by middle and lower middle class passengers.
Air Asia flight to Bangalore
Air Asia is reportedly planning to launch a domestic flight from Vizag to Bangalore to target II AC passengers. The move has been made in view of the large number of engineering students studying at colleges in Bangalore and IT professionals from the city working in the Silicon Valley of India.
It’s interesting to note that while ECoR has failed to take advantage of the peak demand and launch direct trains from Vizag to Bangalore, APSRTC has chipped in and launched Garuda AC services and now Air Asia is planning to cash in on the huge demand.
