The Western Rail administration which was supposed to bid adieu to the double decker train between Indore and Bhopal from Wednesday has deferred its decision till further order. With the railway administration putting its decision on hold the commuters can enjoy joy ride on this train apparently for some more time.
Amid huge public demands, the double-decker train had been started by the Western Railway on Indore-Bhopal route in 2013 with much fan-fare. However, eversince its maiden run between the two cities, this train remained a non-profitable venture for the Railway because of its costly fare which varied between Rs 355 to Rs 390 per passenger.
Due to late running and high fare, the train failed to attract fancies of passengers as for majority of the commuters, their pockets did not allow them to travel by this train. With the passage of time, the number of passengers who earlier travelled between Indore and Bhopal out of curiosity, gradually declined, more so as they had cheaper and convenient transportation options.
With 10 bogies which earlier had been attached with this train, the number of bogies in the train were gradually reduced to three due to dearth of passengers. However, even reduction in bogies did not help the Railway to boost up its revenue, with passengers virtually giving a thumbs down to it.
With this train becoming financially unviable, the Western Railway administration was constrained to wind it up and accordingly announced its closure from August 13. The train was supposed to make its last lap between Indore and Bhopal on August 12. However, due to unexplained reasons, the Western Railway administration has deferred its decision till further orders.
Amid report of closure of double-decker train, the local commuters have been demanding to run this train between Indore and Surat route in the wake of huge business traffic between both the cities.