Former BJP MP Satya Pal Jain on Sunday expressed concern and anguish over the "deteriorating" rail services and movement of trains to and from Chandigarh.
In a statement issued here, the BJP leader claimed that despite a high-profile inauguration of the Chandigarh-Amritsar Superfast train, a 'technical fault' on the railway track within 24 hours of the launch, that led to a delay of about two hours, was an indication of how seriously the Centre had taken this project.
He said that the Chandigarh-Ludhiana railway line project, which was approved and launched in 1999 by the NDA government, was to be completed within 6-7 years but the present UPA government took 13-14 years for its completion, which resulted in three-fold increase in its cost. Despite this, the quality of track laid is sufficient enough to expose the hollow claims of the present government, the former MP said.
Jain said that a few months ago, railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had enhanced rail fares on the pretext of increasing facilities for passengers but in this region the rail facilities had in fact gone down further.
He said that passengers of the afternoon Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabadi had to travel hungry almost right up to the national capital on Saturday. After the present railway minister took over, the 'full-sized' water bottle supplied to passengers had now been replaced with a 'half-sized' bottle, resulting in problem of even sufficient drinking water for passengers who pay handsome fare to the railways.
Jain claimed that even the quality of food served on trains had gone down during the last few months. Similar is the position of cleanliness and other services in the trains, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Jain claimed that even the quality of food served on trains had gone down during the last few months. Similar is the position of cleanliness and other services in the trains, he said.
{{/usCountry}}