Time: 9:43 am. Station: Lajpat Nagar. The Ring Railway halts at the station for precisely 30 seconds. A clutch of 10 or 12 passengers get off while another five to six office-goers board the train before it chugs off to the next station at Sewa Nagar.
You guessed right. Electric Multiple Units (EMU) that run on a ring-like track in New Delhi do not have many takers. Unlike Mumbai, where suburban railways form the lifeline of commuter movement, in New Delhi, commuter trains have been relegated to the background. Residents here still rely on road transport. And despite concerted efforts, the Northern Railways, have not been able to promote passenger traffic on these trains.
Yet when the service had started in 1975, it was hoped that it would ease the traffic on Delhi's ever-congested roads. At that time, these trains ran on single track and operated on diesel. Electric trains were introduced much later, in fact, before the Asiad Games in 1982. Eight trains moved in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions on the track emanating from Hazrat Nizamuddin. Now, there are 13 EMU services on the same route, 12 of which have 10 coaches each and one with 12 coaches.
Seven of these trains run in a clockwise direction and the remaining run anti-clockwise. The entire track, which stretches for 35.21 kilometres, has 21 stations along the way. In the southern segment, there is Lajpat Nagar, Sewa Nagar, Lodhi Colony, Sarojini Nagar, Safdarjung, Chanakyapuri, Sardar Patel Marg, Brar Square, Inderpuri, Naraina Vihar, Kirti Nagar and Patel Nagar. The stations that lie along the northern segment are Pragati Maidan, Tilak Bridge, Shivaji Bridge, New Delhi, Sadar Bazar, Kishanganj, Vivekanand Puri and Daya Basti. Both tracks converge at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
{{/usCountry}}Seven of these trains run in a clockwise direction and the remaining run anti-clockwise. The entire track, which stretches for 35.21 kilometres, has 21 stations along the way. In the southern segment, there is Lajpat Nagar, Sewa Nagar, Lodhi Colony, Sarojini Nagar, Safdarjung, Chanakyapuri, Sardar Patel Marg, Brar Square, Inderpuri, Naraina Vihar, Kirti Nagar and Patel Nagar. The stations that lie along the northern segment are Pragati Maidan, Tilak Bridge, Shivaji Bridge, New Delhi, Sadar Bazar, Kishanganj, Vivekanand Puri and Daya Basti. Both tracks converge at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
{{/usCountry}}Trains that run in a clockwise direction start operating from 8:00 am and the last train leaves Nizamuddin at 6:35 pm. Those which operate in an anti-clockwise direction start early at 6:55 am and run much longer till 8:46. The fares, too, are reasonable — need to shell out only Rs 10 for a ride on the entire circuit.
If you think that these trains are slow coaches and meander along the track, then you are wrong. An EMU covers the entire track in 100 minutes, while from Nizamuddin to New Delhi via Safdarjung is covered in 70 minutes. If the train service is regular and the fares reasonable, why is it that passenger traffic is so limited? "You can blame it on the areas that the trains ply through.
In the southern segment, the train goes through a residential complex with no business or office districts. Hence, office-goers do not find it particularly useful to ride the EMUs," says CPRO, Northern Railways, D. P. Sandhu. Also, there are no feeder services along the route and no connecting buses at the stations. A passenger, therefore, may have to walk miles to reach the nearest bus stop. The Railways had asked the Transport Authorities to run DTC buses along the route but nothing has been done so far.
Several committees like the Dalvi Committee, Railway Reform Committee and the Rites Committee had suggested measures for the improvement of passenger traffic on these trains. "The situation may improve once the Metro services start. It is felt that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the Ring Railway will generate traffic for each other. Facilities can be set up at various stations which can be used by commuters," observes Sandhu.
Besides this, there are no other plans to augment the Ring Railway. "We have to make the services popular," feels the CPRO. One way of doing this is by using posters at stations showing the location of nearby bus stops. Similarly, colourful posters can be put up at bus stops to show the way to the stations and give details of train services. Signages showing directions and distances of stations will also go a long way in making the Ring Railway popular.
The Northern Railways, however, feels that these measures alone will not help. What is needed is bus feeder services and till that happens, these trains will ply empty. Passengers will still prefer either an expensive auto ride or choose the more plebian CNG bus service.