Amidst COVID-19 crisis, the South Western Railway (SWR), under directions from the Railway Ministry, has proposed to cancel at least eight trains being operated in the State. SWR has also proposed cancellation of at least 200 halts for various trains at different railway stations as well as halt stations.
Sources in the Railways said the exercises were being undertaken as part of the Ministry’s endeavour to introduce “Zero Timetable” with effect from July 1, from when Indian Railways’ annual timetable would normally come into force after the Inter-Railway Timetable Committee (IRTTC) meeting. Through this exercise, the IR seeks to speed up trains based on their patronage and priority by eliminating slack running timing as well as curtailing uneconomic halts.
Pandavapura, a taluk headquarter in Mandya district on Bengaluru-Mysuru line, would lose halts for at least eight pairs of trains, while Tiptur, a taluk headquarter and commercial centre in Tumakuru district, would lose halts for at least six pairs, including two tri-weekly express services between Yeshwantpur and Shivamogga. Bantwal, a taluk headquarter in Dakshina Kannada, would lose halts for two tri-weekly trains between Bengaluru and Mangaluru. SWR’s General Manager A.K. Singh said he was unaware of the move and that everything was being done by the Railway Board.
The Hindu could get details of three out of eight trains that were proposed for cancellation by the SWR “to provide corridor blocks.” They are: Train No. 11047/11048 Miraj-Hubballi-Miraj Express; Train No. 56913/56914 KSR Bengaluru-Hubballi-KSR Bengaluru Passenger, and Train No. 06921/06922 Belagavi-Vasco Da Gama bi-weekly special passenger that got introduced by Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi recently.
Tumakuru MP G.S. Basavaraj on Monday wrote to Mr. Angadi strongly objecting to the cancellation of Bengaluru-Hubballi-Bengaluru Passenger (day service) saying the train was always full and served people in his constituency very well.
Speeding up trains
The Indian Railways (IR) has resorted to a massive exercise to speed up trains by cancelling “poorly patronised” ones, eliminating uneconomic halts and reducing the slack time in train running.
Cancellation of all passenger trains during the COVID-19 lockdown has come as a blessing for the IR when it resorted to “Zero Timetable” exercise wherein it is assumed that no train was running on its network at present. Such an exercise was conducted during 1995, said a senior Railway official. Except for Shramik Specials, Rajdhani Specials and another 100 pairs of specials, no other passenger train is in operation at present.
While many rail fans suspect the exercise is a prelude to privatisation of train services across the Board, the official said new timetable is being prepared without looking at the old one prioritising the services. Not many trains would be cancelled, he said adding their timings may get changed while ensuring that their running would not clash with each other.
Giving an example, the official said all North-bound trains from the South would join at Itarsi Junction clogging the network at present. The new TT would see that each train runs at different timing without clashing with another's thereby enhancing the speed. IR has over 13,400 passenger trains and more than 7,300 stations in its network at present.
