Aurangabad, May 25:
The passenger trains running from Aurangabad Railway Station have been converted into Express and Demu Express trains. Hence, the passengers will have to spend more on the fare while some stops of these trains have been canceled due to which the passengers are facing severe inconvenience.
During the corona phase, the railway administration stopped operating all the trains from March 2020. Later, the trains were started phase by phase after the intensity of corona was reduced. Efforts were taken by the administration that the trains should not be crowded. Now, all the passenger trains have been converted into Express trains and some to Demu Express. As compared to the passenger trains, the fare is more for Express and Demu Express trains. The passengers are facing inconvenience due to lack of passenger trains now. They have demanded that the fares should be reduced or the passenger trains should be started again.
Trains converted to Express
Aurangabad - Hyderabad passenger is running as Express. Nizamabad - Pune, Kachiguda - Rotegaon, Nanded - Manmad passengers trains have been converted to Demu Express. The passengers claimed that the fares of the Demu Express are more than the Express trains.
More than 200 percent hike
Earlier, the fare of the passenger train from Aurangabad to Lasur Station was Rs 10 and for Demu and other trains, it has increased to Rs 30 to 45. The fare for Jalna on the Passenger train was Rs 15 to Rs 20, which is now between Rs 50 to Rs 65, the passengers said.
Many stops canceled
After converting into Demu Express trains, Nizamabad - Pune train after Aurangabad stops directed at Lasur and Rotegaon. It has skipped Karmad, Chikalthana, Mukundwadi, Daulatabad, Potul, Karajgaon, Parsoda, and Tarur Railway Stations. Similarly, Dharmabad - Manmad Marathwada Express also skipped these stations. Kakinada - Shirdi Sainagar Express does not stop at Lasur Station.
The president of the Railway Pravasi Sanghatana Santoshkumar Sonami said that the railway fares were increased the trains were converted into Express and Demu Express trains. The passengers are facing inconvenience due to fare hikes and unavailability of stops.
The railway officers said that the decision to convert the passenger trains into Express and Demu Express was taken at the senior level and they cannot say anything about it.