City commuters have spoken. Will wannabe Mumbai MPs answer?

Commuter organisations have demanded more suburban services to reduce crowding in trains. Representation Pic/Satej Shinde

City-based railway commuter organisations on Friday stated the candidate who solves day-to-day railway problems would win their vote. Asking politicians to view Mumbai's 85 lakh commuters as a vote bank, they said they wanted their representatives to travel via train to understand their issues. Most passenger associations also urged candidates to restore the senior citizen concession, which had been scrapped a few years ago, once they came to power.

Elected MPs should take passenger associations' views and arrange meetings with divisions and zones. MPs must travel with us during peak hours without security and escorts to understand our issues and then speak with the Railway Board to take up our issues. The MPs must try to develop and discuss alternative modes of transport like elevated railways for northeast and southeast commuters beyond Kalyan," said Ketan Shah, senior passenger association member.

Ketan Shah, senior passenger association member and Nandkumar Deshmukh, president, Federation of Suburban Passengers' Association

"The Railway Board should start more and more suburban services with due planning to reduce crowds. For outstation trains, Railways should attach more sleeper coaches, instead of adding more and more AC coaches. The most important thing is restoring senior citizen concessions," Shah added.

Safety issues

"Due to the lack of foresight of our government, suburban commuters have to risk their lives while travelling daily, with five to six commuters dying every day due to dense crush load. The government is not taking any action. There are 10 MPs in the Mumbai metropolitan region who oversee suburban railway activities. They should leave aside party differences, unify and take on the government forcing them to solve the issues. We need MPs who will not just sincerely take up railway issues but sustain a follow-up too. We do not want VIP MPs," Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Federation of Suburban Passengers' Association, said.

Passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on February 10. File pics/Satej Shinde

Shailesh Goyal, former member, National Railway Users' Consultative Committee, said many candidates had been asking about railway problems. "Our constituency, Mira Bhayandar, is large and extends till Thane. We will support only those who are aware of passenger problems such as rail connectivity, public safety and lack of comfort."

He added, "Mumbai commuters' demands are very simple. They need safe, secure and punctual journeys. The MPs who support railway projects and removal of encroachers and help expedite land acquisition to complete projects will be the chosen ones."

Shailesh Goyal, former member, National Railway Users' Consultative Committee; Siddhesh Desai, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh; Akshay Mahapadi, commuter activist

Independent authority

Siddhesh Desai, vice-president of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, one of the oldest and biggest passenger associations, said, "MPs should demand an independent transport authority for Mumbai. It should oversee the local railway network, Metros, etc, and arrange quarterly consolidated joint meetings with all transport authorities and state and civic bodies to streamline projects and issues. Politicians who have been delaying city rail projects will not be spared this time."

Burning issues

Commuter activist Akshay Mahapadi said, "There are quite a few burning issues that every MP in Maharashtra should take up. I would like to highlight a few ones: the merger of Konkan Railway with Indian Railways, giving away the Roha to Madure route to Central Railway (CR) and the Karnataka section to South Western Railway, having new permanent trains from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Kurla LTT, Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus to Chiplun, Ratnagiri and Sawantwadi, completing the Vasai bypass (Naigaon Juchandra Cord Line) for easy access to KR, expediting terminus work, and repairing and restarting the pit line and car water filling facility at Ratnagiri."

He added, "CR had cancelled several Maharashtra-specific trains like Sahyadri Express, Mumbai Bhusawal Passenger, Pune Panvel Passenger and Godavari Express. CR should be forced to serve Maharashtra on priority as they take care of North India. New services such as Nanded-Manmad-Kalyan, Sawantwadi, Gondia-Sawantwadi and Pune-Kalyan-Sawantwadi-Madgaon are needed."

10
No. of MPs in MMR