15 August,2024 06:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Passenger associations met the met the divisional railway manager of central railway and discussed various demands of the suburban passengers
A Marathon three-hour meeting between numerous passenger associations and the divisional railway manager of Central Railway Mumbai failed to reach any consensus on Wednesday. The railways tried to convey to the associations that none of their demands could be practically fulfilled in the given scenario while the passenger associations remained firm on their call for peaceful protest on August 22.
"Today, we had a meeting with DRM Central Railway Mumbai Goyal sir at 12 pm. There were several organisations gathered for the meeting. We were told that due to limited infrastructure and space to expand, it is difficult for them to increase the services. We were told that running Diva-Thane local, Thane Kasara, Thane-Karjat local trains was also difficult due to unavailability of resources. We will continue our peaceful White Day Protest on August 22, and request meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Railway Minister Ashwiniji Vaishnav," Siddhesh Desai, vice-president of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, one of the oldest and biggest passenger associations, said.
The photogallery here
Desai said the railways gave a positive response to the demand of new suburban stations - Guravali and Parsik. Association leaders have already been slapped with legal notices and warned against creating any disruption of rail services on August 22 during the protest.
Railway officials said to reduce congestion in Mumbai suburban corridors, Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II costing R8,087 crore, MUTP-III costing Rs 10,947 crore and MUTP-IIIA costing Rs 33,690 crore had already been sanctioned to meet the future demands of passengers and works are under various stages of construction.
