The cancellation of the highly popular 06579/80 Yesvantapur-Visakhapatnam-Yesvantapur weekly Tatkal special fare express, operated by the South Western Railway (SWR), has come in as a rude shock to thousands of rail users from Visakhapatnam, who are employed in Bengaluru.
Rail users took to Twitter to express their ire on the cancellation of the popular train, which is the only originating train from Visakhapatnam to Yesvantapur (Bengaluru).
A special train between Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru was first operated by SWR, following several pleas made by the people of north Andhra, living in Bengaluru, during the Pongal season in January 2015. It was a runaway success.
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It was estimated that over 40,000 people from coastal Andhra, working in IT companies, as also those employed in other sectors had settled in Bangalore permanently.
Train No. 06579/80 Yesvantapur-Visakhapatnam-Yesvantapur Tatkal fare special was introduced by SWR on October 28, 2016. It was not extended further, after its final run expired towards the end of last month.
Rail users fail to understand what had prompted the cancellation of this highly popular train, when trains with poor patronage were being operated and given extensions. They demanded revival and regularisation of the popular train and immediate restoration to further passenger earnings during the festival season.
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Duvvada-bound passengers travelling by the 12784 Secunderabad – Visakhapatnam weekly AC Express were at a loss to understand, when their train was taken on the ‘through-line’, though Platform-4 and PF-3 were vacant, at Duvvada Railway Station on Sunday morning.
The passengers began screaming as the train kept on moving even after entering Duvvada Station around 6.15 a.m. There was no passenger train or even a good train on the two platforms. There did not seem any technical problem as no announcement was made on the public address system.
Though the green signal was on, the driver must have heard the passengers screaming and stopped the train. The passengers alighted with their luggage on the gravel with difficulty and walked on the stones and over the other track to climb over the platform. Women with children had a tough time in climbing on to the platform, said Duvvada Railway Users’ Association secretary K. Eswar in his tweet to the DRM.
He wondered why the train had to be stopped on the through line, when two platforms were vacant. Passengers, who waited at Duvvada to catch this train to Visakhapatnam, also had to walk across the track to reach the compartments. He also tweeted that the problem was going on repeatedly at Duvvada.
Divisional Railway Manager Mukul Saran Mathur replied on Twitter that the ‘matter was being investigated’ and that ‘action would be initiated’.
B. Madhu Gopal