Sameer Waghchoure was shocked when he came to know that the central railway (CR) has cancelled just before Diwali, the train tickets he had booked for his entire family to travel to Nagpur during the upcoming festival. Waghchoure is among thousands of passengers whose plans to visit Nagpur and other cities during Diwali have fallen apart, thanks to the CR’s decision to cancel just before the festival 16 major trains and divert five other trains going through the Daund to Manmad railway route under the Solapur division. The reason behind the move is planned technical work of doubling the railway route, for which, blocks will be taken between Kashti and Belvandi stations under the Solapur railway division. However, passengers are questioning the timing of the decision which, according to them, will result in even greater rush.
Waghchoure said, “I had booked the tickets of our five family members for the Pune to Nagpur Garibrath Express train for October 17 just before Diwali so that we could join my entire family and friends at our native place. But a couple of days ago, I got a message from the railways saying that the train has been cancelled on this date, and now, all our plans to go to Nagpur have been disturbed.” Booking tickets for another train at such a short notice is impossible and the option of air travel is far too expensive. The only option is private buses however operators are charging exorbitant fares, said Waghchoure, a resident of Hadapsar.
As per the information shared by the railways, 16 trains were cancelled initially of which, two trains namely, the Pune-Amravati AC Express (train number 22117) and Pune-Nagpur Express (train number 12135), which were cancelled earlier, will now run as per schedule. The 14 remaining trains continue to stay cancelled between October 4 and 21. The cancellation date of each train is different and the railways have shared the detailed schedule of cancelled and diverted trains.
Another passenger Jignesh Oza who had planned to visit his in-laws at Jabalpur for the first time after his wedding during Diwali and had booked tickets for the same, said, “My wife and I had planned to visit her parents’ place in Jabalpur this Diwali and for that, we had booked tickets of the Pune – Jabalpur Express on October 17 but it has been cancelled now. Travelling by trains is affordable for middle-class people like us but now, we have to either go by tourist bus or air which are both very expensive for us. As we do not have any option, the budget for Diwali celebrations will be spent in travel tickets alone this year.”
{{/usCountry}}Another passenger Jignesh Oza who had planned to visit his in-laws at Jabalpur for the first time after his wedding during Diwali and had booked tickets for the same, said, “My wife and I had planned to visit her parents’ place in Jabalpur this Diwali and for that, we had booked tickets of the Pune – Jabalpur Express on October 17 but it has been cancelled now. Travelling by trains is affordable for middle-class people like us but now, we have to either go by tourist bus or air which are both very expensive for us. As we do not have any option, the budget for Diwali celebrations will be spent in travel tickets alone this year.”
{{/usCountry}}The major trains that have been cancelled include: the Pune – Ajni AC Express, Pune – Nagpur Garibrath Express, Pune – Nagpur Express, Pune – Ajni Express, Pune – Najibabad DEMU, Kolhapur – Gondia Maharashtra Express, Pune – Bhusaval – Pune Express, Pune – Jabalpur Express, Pune – Veerangana Laxmibai Jhansi Express, Dadar – Sai Nagar Shirdi Express, Pune – Rani Kamalapati Humsafar Express, Pune – Bilaspur Express, Pune – Nanded Express, and Pune – Kazipet Express.
Talking about this issue, Major Jhawar, Pune railway division spokesperson, said, “We are completely aware about the situation of passengers and due to this sudden cancellation of several trains, they are going to face difficulties but the doubling and other technical works that are going to be carried out in the Solapur division are also necessary. For the betterment of passengers, two of the cancelled train operations have been revised and they will now be running as per schedule.”
With so many trains cancelled and Diwali fast approaching, fares of private tourist buses along the Nagpur, Amravati and Madhya Pradesh routes have already started rising. According to passengers, private bus operators are exploiting the situation and fleecing citizens.
Shreya Gandhi, an engineer working in Pune, said that she had booked train tickets to Amravati this Diwali but the train got cancelled. “I have now booked private bus tickets but had to pay Rs3,500 even though I booked three weeks ago,” Gandhi said.
Mangesh Zende, owner-manager, Shivshakti Travels, Pune, said that the current ticket for Pune to Nagpur sleeper coach bus is between Rs1,200 and Rs1,500 but as Diwali approaches, the fares will double and rise above Rs5,000. “Similarly, the fares for seating coach buses which are in the range of Rs800 to Rs1,200 today will double during the peak festival season and sometimes, the demand is so high that the ticket fares rise above Rs4,000,” Zende said.