Rail Budget: Women, disabled feel left out of scheme

Not all in the state cheered the railway budget on Wednesday. While there was gloom that the demand for more women’s specials on the Chennai suburban route was not met, commuters in Coimbatore were sore that their plea for re-routing 13 long distance trains via the textile town remained unfulfilled. And, the announcement of disabled-friendly coaches without a timeframe for their introduction did not actually gladden the differently-tabled.
Hundreds of women passengers in Chennai, who have for long been demanding more specials on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram suburban route, presently cram into the lone service — it leaves Tambaram at 8.37am and in the return direction, leaves Chennai Beach at 5.57pm. The timing of the service has been a concern for many.
While it is convenient for school and college students, most working women, who have to be at the office between 9.30am and 10am, end up missing the service. This has also increased the rush on other trains. “The idea of a women’s special is novel but the timing is not right. It should have been decided based on a detailed study,” said S Priya of Tambaram.
The service, begun on August 12, 2009, with a capacity to carry 4,000 commuters, is presently used by around 800 women daily from Tambaram. An equal number board the train in the evening. Commuters in Coimbatore, who had for long been demanding that 13 long-distance trains that presently skip the town be re-routed through it, were unhappy that the issue did not find a mention in the budget.
However, railway authorities said at least half of the 13 trains would be re-routed by June. Despite the minister’s claim in the budget speech that 80,000 vacancies had been filled in the railways, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled said the backlog of vacancies against the quota for the disabled hadn’t been filled. Besides, some differentlyabled people said, the promised extension of e-booking facility for them had not been done and concessions on local trains too were being denied. There were other disgruntled sections too.
In Chennai, TN Rajasthan Pravasi Ekta Sangh founder-president Ashok Rajpurohit said “It is a disappointment as despite our demands there are no new trains from Chennai to Rajasthan.” The Kanyakumari Railway Users Association said, “The budget should have given maximum funds to complete doubling of Madurai-Chennai line,which is highly congested. More trains can be operated only if the line is doubled.”
Full Coverage on Budget 2012: Budget 2012» Rail Budget 2012» Pre Budget 2012» Budget News 2012»