Keralites happy with rail budget

AHMEDABAD/SURAT: While Keralites in Gujarat are happy with the introduction of two more trains to their home state, Bengalis, Biharis and Oriyas are dismayed at not getting more trains.
Mohanan Nambiar, president of Ahmedabad Kerala Samajam, said, "It is a very positive railway budget for passengers to Kerala. There was already one train everyday from Ahmedabad to Kerala and now two more have been announced.We see a huge number of people travelling to Kerala irrespective of the season and the budget will benefit them."
The Bengali community was not so pleased with Mamata Bannerjee. They expected more trains to Kolkata from Ahmedabad. Sunil Das, general secretary of Maninagar Maha Durga Charitable Trust, said Mamata should have at least started two more trains for Kolkata. He felt the railways should have changed the departure timing of existing trains from Ahmedabad. "She should have made more emphasis on rail infrastructure so as leading to decrease in the commuting time."
Bengalis in Surat, too, were unhappy that no new trains from Gujarat to Howrah were announced. Suprabhat Chatterjee, president of Bengal Club, Surat, said, "We have only one train daily to Howrah and wanted at least one more train daily. Moreover no new Duranto is announced from the city. Even the demand to make Surat-Bhagalpur express daily was also not accepted.
Subhash Ghantayat, president of Surat Udiya Association, wanted the Surat - Puri weekly train to be made tri-weekly. "Our demand was not met. Now they say that once West Bengal elections are over, some of the pending demands will be met. We hope our turn comes then."
K K Sharma of Bihar Vik-as Parishad was also very dej-ected. "We had made a numb-er of written representations to increase frequency of Bhagalpur Express and Bandra- Udhna-Patna Express. But, they haven't done anything. We are disappointed."