Suresh Prabhu raises hope for cleanliness, but continuity a worry

Though happy over the Union railway minister’s announcements to install CCTVs and provide wifi facilities and more berths to women and senior citizens, a majority of the Delhiites were worried over the way existing facilities had deteriorated over the years in the railways. They pointed out towards poor maintenance of toilets, lack of drinking water, poor catering and above all delay in rail services as areas of major concern which should be taken up on a priority.

Some passengers, especially women, are quite happy with the new developments.

Usha, who was waiting for her train to Dhanbad at New Delhi Railway Station, said the most important requirement in trains, especially for women, is personal hygiene. “The railway minister has promised SMS facility for cleaning toilets. If it is efficient enough and bathrooms, which are generally very dirty, are cleaned with just a click of a button, that would be very good”

On the other hand, on discussing about the wifi facility, beautification of stations and GPS system on trains, another passenger, Manoj, who is an engineer and works in Gurgaon, said: “Hope such announcements are implemented because all such facilities would need a lot of investment considering the railways, which has been cash strapped for many years”

“The wifi facility was there in trains for quite some time, but was never ever useful. It never worked and even if it did, it was too slow. To enable any GPS-related system in trains would need a fast Internet bandwidth,” he added.

On speaking with section engineer Anish Mondal at the railway station, he said the striking point in the rail budget was that coolies would be called “Sahayaks”. “This would give a lot of respect to them, who are generally treated very badly, and would boost their morale”

About high speed corridors, Mr Mondal said, fast trains would need close supervision of railway tracks, which would in turn mean more hard work for us and constant awareness. “Anyway, I don’t have a holiday, but if there are high speed trains, they would not have time to even relax,” laughed Mr Mondal.

On the promise of less delay in trains, a General Railway Police(GRP) officer, said: “Train delay has been a major cause of passenger frustration. There has been station commotion due to this. Sometime passengers would sleep overnight in stations for delay in trains”

Thirty-nine-year-old Ashmika Gupta, an employee at a marketing firm, seemed a little relaxed on hearing about installation of CCTVs at stations as she said, at least safety and security of women and personal belongings have become the concern of the government. “We would feel safe and not hesitate to wait at stations at night or go out to buy food in train stoppages. Generally, men go out,” said Ms Gupta.

About lower berth quota for women and senior citizens, Ms Gupta said, “It is indeed difficult for old women and men to sleep in middle births and impossible for upper berths.

“ Women of my age group can still sleep in middle or upper berths but senior citizens have lots of body ailments and may have to visit the bathroom quite often. In this case, it becomes problematic for them. If this quota is implemented, it will be of great help.”

Rahul Raj , another passenger who was going to Kolkata in the Rajdhani Express that leaves at 4:30 pm in the evening, said, “ I read that train tickets can be cancelled by just calling 139 helpline number. It will save a lot of time and make cancellation of tickets hassle free.”

“I don’t know what facilities the railways will provide for disabled people, because whatever they do will definitely take time and won’t be done overnight, but the thought of helping the disabled to have a smooth journey is in itself a good initiative” Raj said when asked about the “Accessible India” scheme to be introduced in Railways.