Pull strings to stop train: Here’s a please-all Rajdhani

Railway Board officials admit that there were a lot of “pulls and pressures” for halts of the super-fast Rajdhani train. Yielding to the pressures, it was decided to run the VIP train on a non-electrified, single line, slow route — unheard of for fast trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi, whose USP is speed and quality.

While a normal Rajdhani runs at 85-87 kmph, the new Rajdhani, started on January 11, is being run at 70 kmph. “It cannot go faster on this route,” said a senior Railway official.

Union RailwayMinister Nitish Kumar also conceded that there was pressure for halts. “It (the pressure) is always there, especially in trains like Rajdhani. We are trying to rationalise the system, but it is very difficult to resist the pressure,” he told The Indian Express.

Another Railway Board official admitted that it was a “running battle” for stoppages for the new Rajdhani. Starting from New Delhi, the new Rajdhani will stop at Moradabad, Bareilly, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ballia, Hajipur, Barauni, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon and Guwahati.

Now, why on earth would a train to Guwahati stop at the above-mentioned places?

Simple. Ballia, for instance, is home to a former prime minister, Chandra Shekhar. Hajipur is associated with former Railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Here’s Nitish Kumar’s justifications for some stops: He says Moradabad is an important “business centre”. Ballia, he says is an important eastern UP town. He does not comment on Hajipur, Paswan’s constituency.

The olderRajdhani which goes to Guwahati three-times a week from New Delhi takes the faster electrified route of Kanpur, Mughal Sarai, Patna, Barauni, New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon to reach Guwahati.

“It is going to cost Railways much more to run this train. The faster a train leaves the track, better for the Railways since more trains can be run on the track. It is more important for the new Rajdhani route because it is a single line track. Moreover, more stoppages mean more money lost,” says an official.

It would have been much better to run a train like Magadha or Vaishali on this route, in view of their popularity, the official said. “The existing Guwahati Rajdhani does not even fill up till Patna with a number of vacant seats. There is no logic in having a halt at Hajipur. It is just that it is considered prestigious having a Rajdhani pass through an area,” he added.