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Railway Budget: Less Hopes This Year As Promises Unfulfilled

  • In last year's rail budget, the then minister Mamata Banerjee had announced 14 new trains for Rajasthan. A year later, when her successor Dinesh Trivedi will be presenting the latest budget, most of her promises remain unfulfilled with eight trains yet to see the light of the day. This include the Jaipur-Delhi double decker, Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi and Ajmer-Nizamuddhin express trains.The biggest disappointment is over the Jaipur - Delhi double decker non-stop train which many were waiting for eagerly.

  • Asked about the status of these trains, a senior officer North Western Railway said on Monday: "The trains which are still awaited include the Jaipur-Delhi double decker, Ajmer-Nizamuddhin AC train via Phulera-Ringus and Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi as the railway board is yet to give its nod to the schedule of these trains.""There are no indications from the railway board on the tentative schedule of these trains which were the most awaited," said an office-bearer of railways employees union.

  • However, NWR officials still maintained that five trains which were awaited are likely to run within a week."The railway authorities has clarified that some of the trains announced in the last rail budget including Bandra - Jammu Tawi (weekly), Mumbai - Chandigarh via Phulera-Ringus (weekly), Udaipur-Bandra (tri-weekly), Bhagalpur-Ajmer(weekly), Howrah - Jaisalmer(weekly) will chug off within a week," said an official of NWR.

  • Confirming the dates of Howrah-Jaisalmer, an officer said that the up train had already started from Howarh on Monday while it will return from Jaisalmer on March 15.Other major announcements which are yet to convert into reality included developing eight railway stations of North Western Railway as model stations. "It was proposed in last year's budget to develop Barmer, Churu, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Ratangarh, Sadulpur and Mahendragarh as model stations. However, not a single railway station has got any change in its infrastructural facilities so far," said an office-bearer of North Western Railway Employees Union.Not just the railway passengers but the railway employees too are waiting for a few things to happen including a super-specialty hospital at Bandikui. A mechanized laundry for washing the linen which was proposed for Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaipur were yet to materialize.

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