Railway Scenario in Marathwada remains neglected

Aurangabad, Aug 13:

When the entire country is commemorating the 75 years of Independence and development accomplished over the period, there is a sorry situation for the railway scenario of the Marathwada region. The development of Railways in the Marathwada region and especially Aurangabad has always been neglected by every government, alleges Marathwada Railway Vikas Committee Omprakash Varma.

The history of railways in Marathwada goes back in the pre-Independence era. The Nizam of Hyderabad started the Railway in 1879 run by a company guaranteed by the Nizam and hence called Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway Company. Marathwada was joined with Secunderabad, Hyderabad through a meter-guage track. After Independence, the railway administration was merged in the Indian Railway in 1951. Initially, this section was under Central Railway but was handed over to South Central Railway in 1966.

There was only one Express Train known as Ajanta Express (Kachiguda – Manmad) and one passenger trains operated from Aurangabad. Ajanta Express was started on April 1, 1967. However, people from the region if wanted to go to Mumbai have to change the train at Manmad and it continued for several years. The first direct train for Mumbai was Deogiri Express started on February 3, 1992 operated from Secunderabad to Mumbai. Then the people from Marathwada got the direct train for Mumbai. Now, the meter guage has been completed transformed into the broad guage. The broad guage work betwn between 1992-95.

Presently, trains available for the city passengers are for the destinations Mumai Jaipur, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Okha, Amritsar, Pune etc. However, some trains operated from Aurangabad are regular trains while some are weekly trains. There has been a prolonged demand from the railway passengers to connect Aurangabad to the major cities of the country through direct trains.

Injustice on Marathwada

There has always been an injustice on Marathwada. We had been pursuing the development of Railways in Marathwada region for several years. During every budget, the surveys for new routes are sanctioned but later it is abandoned is the usual experience. There is a prolonged demanded to connect Pune directly through Kopargaon, which has not yet cleared. Similarly, there is a severe need to connect Aurangabad with Nagpur.

- Omprakash Varma, President, Marathwada Railway Vikas Committee.

Several sanctioned projects pending

There are several projects sanctioned for the Marathwada region but many of them are pending. The work of some surveys for new routes have been done while some are yet to begin. The work of pitline is going on at Jalna but the Aurangabad pitline work is yet to begin. The electrification work is under progress. The proposed Aurangabad – Chalisgaon route and Rotegaon – Kopargaon have been cancelled completely. The survey of Aurangabad – Paithan – Beed – Osmanabad route is under progress. The work of double line is under progress.

- Swanand Solanke, Railway Researcher.

Demand for trains

1. Aurangabad- Bengaluru/Mysuru SF Express (Bi-weekly)

2. Aurangabad- Akola/Amaravati Intercity Express via Purna (Daily)

3. Mumbai/Aurangabad- Nagpur/Ajni via Purna, Akola Overnight Express (Daily)

4. Nanded- Aurangabad- Ahmadabad Express via Manmad,Jalgaon (Tri Weekly)

5. Nanded-Aurangabad- Bikaner Express (Weekly)

6. Aurangabad- Thiruvananthpuram Express via Manmad, Panvel, Madgaon (Weekly)

7. Nanded- Aurangabad- Haridwar/Rishikesh Express (Weakly)

8. Aurangabad-Varanasi Express (weekly)

9. Extension of Nanded -Santragachi Express and Purna- Patna Express upto Aurangabad.