More than anything else, the failure on the part of the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to announce new trains for Salem Railway Division in the Railway Budget presented by him on Thursday has come in as a shock to the travelling public and the trade and industry of the western districts alike.
“We were asking for new trains from Salem, the headquarters of Salem Division and were expecting announcement on a few trains. The non introduction of even a single train is a great disappointment,” say a cross section of the people of the district.
The Railway Budget neither brings joy nor sorrow to the general public, observed A. Jayaseelan, general secretary, Salem City Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber and the people have been demanding day time train from Salem to Chennai via Attur, Vriddhachalam, Villuppuram for a long time. We were eagerly awaiting an announcement on this train. But are thoroughly disappointed, Mr. Jayaseelan said.
He welcomed the announcements on the commissioning of CCTV cameras in the women compartments and on the important lines, introduction of centrally managed railway display network for providing information on arrival and departure of trains, SMS alerts, introduction of integrated ticketing system, priority for cleanliness in the trains and railway premises, and increasing the movement of goods trains.
Hailing the Coastal Connectivity Programme of delivering rail connectivity to ports, Mr. Jayaseelan said this will definitely prove a boon to trade and industry, besides playing a major role in developing the ports.
G. Hari Haran Babu, former member of the Southern Railway Zonal Advisory Committee, said that though the announcement of getting an unreserved ticket within five minutes is a welcome move, the Railways should initiate steps to ensure that they get proper accommodation in unreserved compartments.
The additional two coaches in trains will not meet the demand of the people, he said and added that more unreserved compartments should be attached to the trains.
Funds
He disputed funds crunch in the railways for the implementation of the announced projects. It is disappointing that no initiative was taken to curb the wasteful expenses in the Ministry.
He also found fault with the Railway Minister for not taking initiative for the implementation of the projects announced by his predecessor D. V. Sadananda Gowda in the previous budget.
