The Northern Railways plan to resume operation of all trains from Dehradun from May 23 seems improbable as construction work on platform number three is still incomplete. The operation of sixteen trains from Dehradun is halted from April 17 due to the construction work at the platform. The harassed passengers are boarding and disembarking these trains from Haridwar railway station.
In order to change old creaking wooden sleepers at platform number three of the Dehradun railway station, the Railways decided to stop operation of some trains for 36 days. The plan was that the activities like relaying of 450 meter long track, reconstruction of platform edges and other works would be completed within this time frame.
A visit to the platform on Monday, the last day when the work was supposed to get completed reveals that the work though progressing at rapid pace is far from over. “The work on track is complete the platform edges are being repaired at present. The platform would take few more days to get fully operational. We have deployed a work force of 100 people who are working round the clock to accomplish the task,’’ said one of the engineers. One of the supervisors accepted that the pace of work in initial days was very slow which is showing its effect now.
The station superintendent of Dehradun railway station, Kartar Singh said that the engineers working on the project would inform about the status of the work late on Monday night and based on their report the decision of making the platform operational would be taken. It is learnt that the authorities are trying to start operation of Shatabdi express on trial basis initially before throwing full load on the platform.
The decision of the railways to start construction activity at peak of the summers when passenger traffic is at its highest was criticised by residents of the city but the Railways stuck to its plan. Apart from passengers the private taxi operators are bearing the brunt of non operation of many important trains. Sushil Kumar a cab driver said, “ this time of the year used to be our busiest time but this year the non operation of many important trains like Shatabdi has severely affected our earnings.'’
The construction work has affected the operations of Ujjaini express, Dehradun- Indore express, Dehradun- Okha Uttaranchal express, Dehradun- Kochuvelli express, Dehradun- Madurai superfast express, Dehradun- Howara Upasana express, Dehradun- New Delhi Shatabdi express and Dehradun -Kathgodam express from Dehradun.