WR GM's dream, but passengers' nightmare

Railway officials say trains are delayed as work is being done to realise the retiring general manager's dream of having more such rakes in service and taking credit for them

Railway officials say trains are delayed as work is being done to realise the retiring general manager's dream of having more such rakes in service and taking credit for them
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WESTERN Railway (WR) passengers who have been turning up late at office for the past few days despite leaving home on time can blame outgoing General Manager (GM) R N Verma for their misery.
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R N Verma confirmed the delay of train services and said it will continue for the next two to three days

For, according to railway officials, Verma's dream of seeing as many 15-car trains leaving Churchgate station as possible before he retires has been leading to trains getting delayed.

"Top priority tasks like increasing the length of platforms to accommodate the 15-car rake and adjusting the signalling system have been completed in the last few days," said a senior railway official on condition of anonymity.

"It was Verma's dream to take credit for starting the 15-car rakes from Churchgate to Virar instead of the next GM who will take over from him," he added.

During a press conference yesterday, Verma confirmed the delay of train services and said it would continue for the next two to three days since crossover work is in progress at Churchgate station.

"The delay is due to the speed restrictions with the new track and work being done for change in points and crossings that are required for the 15-car rake," he said.

On January 28, WR's first motor-woman, Preeti Kumari, rolled out a 15-car train from Churchgate station. There are plans to run a dozen 15-car rakes, out of which six will run between Churchgate and Virar.

The work of increasing the platform length to accommodate the new rakes is also being done at Naigaon station and a pre-feasibility study has been conducted for Dahisar. Mumbai Central's platforms will also be modified soon.u00a0

Receiving end

Passengers have been wondering about the delay and say enquiring with officials and personnel from WR has left them with no satisfactory answer.

Rima Sood, who spent two-and-a-half hours in a train for travelling between Borivli and Churchgate on Friday, said, "I had to go to Churchgate for a meeting but had to cancel it because I was over an hour late for my appointment. When I enquired about the delay, I did not get a satisfactory answer from the railway authorities."

Preeti Shah, who had to meet an overseas client in Colaba but could not make it because of trains being delayed, said, "My seniors at office were upset. It took me more than an hour to go from Bandra to Churchgate and the meeting was called off."

While railway officials maintain that trains were delayed only by around 20 minutes, passengers complain of at least hour-long delays. Many trains were also cancelled and signal failure and technical problems were cited as reasons.

Girish Pillai, Divisional Railway manager, WR, said, "Trains weren't on time for the past few days due to construction work at Churchgate station, but we are in the process of bringing things back to normal."