A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Punjab on Wednesday urged the Narendra Modi-led government to first focus on the existing trains and railway infrastructure instead of planning bullet trains, NDTV reported.
“Please forget the bullet trains and trains that run at 120-200 km per hour...please focus on the ones that are already running,” former Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said in a video she shot while travelling on the Saryu-Yamuna Express from Amritsar to Ayodhya.
Chawla said she was “disappointed” to see the state of the trains and the government’s apathy towards them. Travelling in a third AC compartment, she criticised the government for its indifference towards the railways and its falling standards. The train Chawla was travelling in had been delayed by more than nine hours.
In the video shot on a mobile phone, Chawla is seen addressing Prime Minister Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. “The train in which I am sitting, Saryu-Yamuna Express train is running nine hours late,” she said. “We have been in the train for more than 24 hours. The train had to change direction, but no one bothered to inform us about why the train is late.”
Chawla said that the train was once known as the “Flying Mail”. “I appeal to the government and to Modiji to have pity on us,” she said, adding that most infrastructure, including seats, toilet, taps and fans in trains is in a dilapidated state. Chawla said that the railways had made no provisions to offer food and water to passengers stranded for more than 10 hours.
She added that passengers were forced to sleep on pavements at railway stations in the biting cold as there were no waiting rooms and facilities.
Chawla said none of the existing railway helplines, which were highly publicised by the government, were operational and that even emails written to the railway minister himself had elicited no response.
Chawla urged Goyal to undertake a train journey like the masses and see for himself the deplorable situation. While the government had made efforts to spruce up the Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, only the rich could afford to travel in them, she said.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!