The 2015 Union Railway Budget announced by Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu drew mixed reactions from people of Capital on Thursday. Though Prabhu’s statement in his maiden Budget, “everything can’t be done in a year”, didn’t go down well with some passengers at the New Delhi railway station, there was a blessing in disguise for inter-metro city travellers.
The Budget announced increasing train speed from existing 110 and 130 to 160 and 200 kms respectively so that inter-metro journey — like Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi Kolkata — can be completed overnight.
Sanjeev Mal, a 45-year-old Delhi-Kolkata based businessman, said, “I travel on a fortnightly basis. If a train’s speed increases and travel time reduces to 10 from 16 hours, it will save a complete day. If Rajdhani runs at 200 kmph as proposed, the ideal departure time from New Delhi should be 10 pm and the time of arrival at Kolkata becomes 8 am. It will be such a blessing for us.”
Senior citizens cheered Suresh Prabhu as this is the first Railway Budget made it easier for them to get lower berths. Prabhu also announced the number of lower berth seats reserved for senior citizens and pregnant women in every coach so that they have a higher chance of getting it while buying the ticket.
“More lower berths reserved for senior citizens is a good news. Being a retired Government officer, I have always appreciated Government-run system. The only thing that irritated me is poor maintenance. Hope this Government lives up to our expectations,” said Rohit Desai, a 64-year-old Kolkata resident who was traveling with his wife and has his sons settled in Delhi.
Dissatisfied with no announcement of new trains, Poonam Arora said, “During festival time, the entire family travels back home. We genuinely need more trains. Under present circumstances we don’t get reservations, plus there are less general coaches. We have to face a harrowing time during festivals. This budget is strictly for the middle and upper class.”
“For a frequent visitor like me who faces scarcity of trains during every seasonal rush a properly maintained rail services, including cleanliness, time table, is more important than introducing new trains. This Budget doesn’t make popular claims but promises to streamline the rusted system,” said Sanjay Shrivastava.