The Union Railway Budget evoked mixed reactions from the denizens of steel city, Jamshedpur. The Railway Budget-2015 proved to be a damp squib for Chakradharpur, the highest revenue earning railway division in terms of freight in the country. The Railway Budget turned out to be a major blow particularly for the traders, who were eying for new trains.
Outfits like Chhotanagpur Passengers Association and Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), a leading trade outfit of Kolhan region welcomed initiatives like all India 24x7 grievances helpline 138 (which will become effective from March 1), ticket booking portal in different languages, improving cleanliness, providing wi-fi facility on railway stations, CCTV cameras in ladies compartment and other rail infrastructure development.
“We welcome some of the initiatives like improving cleanliness, introducing helpline numbers for general and safety related complaints, CCTV cameras in ladies compartments, ticket booking portal in different languages. Such steps would really help passengers. But, non-announcement of any new trains came as a big disappointment. We were expecting a few new trains in the Chakradharpur division, the highest revenue earner under the South Eastern Railway (SER),” said UK Srivastava of Chhotanagpur Passengers Association.
A senior functionary of the association, which works for the welfare of passengers said that in the pre-budget proposal to the Union railway minister, they had requested for direct trains to Patna and Bhagalpur. The SCCI hailed the budget for announcement of Rs6,581 crore for construction of railway overbridges (ROB’s) and railway underbridges (RUB’s) by eliminating unmanned level crossings.
Trade bodies and passenger associations regretted the fact that Chakradharpur, which rakes in annual revenue of over Rs5,000 crore and is an industry hub, has not been given a fair deal.
“We were expecting introduction of at least some trains in the division. We had sought increase in the frequency of the Puri-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which plies via Tatanagar and the Tata-Yeshwantpur Express. In our memorandum to the Railway Minister, we had also demanded a direct train between Tatanagar and Jaipur, as a sizeable number of traders travel to the pink city,” said an official of the association.