Harbour and Central Line to face Rail Neer shortage for 18 days

Mumbai: For the next 18 days, passengers travelling on the Harbour Line as well as all the stations from Kalyan to Igatpuri on Central Railway (CR) will have to carry their own bottles of water

Mumbai: For the next 18 days, passengers travelling on the Harbour Line as well as all the stations from Kalyan to Igatpuri on Central Railway (CR) will have to carry their own bottles of water.

Ludhiana, India – June 12, 2019 : Station collie drinking rail neer at platform number one in Railway station, in Ludhiana on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo by Gurpreet Singh/Hindustan Times)

“Due to the sudden increase in demand for Rail Neer (Railways’ packaged drinking water) owing to the prevailing festive season and sudden breakdown in production at Ambernath, it will not be feasible to supply Rail Neer at mentioned sections from October 29 to November 15,” states a notification issued by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to CR.

This year, CR provided additional festive trains adding to the load in the production of Rail Neer. IRCTC has asked CR to make alternate arrangements for the supply of water during the above-mentioned period.

Rail Neer is an important passenger amenity and is available for ₹15 per litre. It is produced at a plant in Ambernath from where it is distributed. Currently, there is a monopoly of Rail Neer at railway stations. With the festive special trains and increasing crowds at railway stations, the demand for Rail Neer is also increasing. In premium passenger trains and certain air-conditioned coaches, Rail Neer is provided to each passenger by the railways, including the ticket cost. Even for suburban local commuters, this is the only option of packaged drinking water available at the stations. The other option is to rely on water vending machines.

Apart from the Mumbai division, there will also be a shortage of Rail Neer at Bhusawal, Manmad, Nasik Road, Solapur, Daund and Ahmednagar stations until November 15.

This year, CR has provided 258 festive special trains till the end of November for Pooja Diwali and Chhath festival. “This is the highest number of festive trains run by CR to date, these additional services were started to meet the heavy festive season rush (both outgoing and incoming). 258 trains are running along CR routes among these 103 are already plying and 155 more will commence in the next few days,” said an officer from CR.

IRCTC produces 14,500 cartons of packaged drinking water, each containing 12 bottles of 1 litre daily. These are supplied and distributed to static catering unit owners at stations. IRCTC in the past has complained that often the static units wait till the last moment to ask for additional stock. This often makes it difficult to timely supply and distribution for IRCTC.

“Currently, the railways are neglecting basic needs and working towards non-important things like running restaurants. Water is essential for commuters but it’s not available at many stations. If the railways are not able to provide packaged drinking water, then they should allow other brands to sell at stations,” said Siddhesh Desai, a member, of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.

In March, this year, CR complained to IRCTC that with rising temperatures the demand for packaged drinking water has also increased. This led to an irregular supply of Rail Neer at static catering units. As there was no intimation regarding the same from IRCTC in March, CR complained about the sudden shortage. Keeping this in mind, IRCTC on Saturday released a notification about the low supply of Rail Neer.