ONLY 33 ON BOARD RAJDHANI
The railway division was informed only on Saturday that the Rajdhani will now be running on Monday too
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, September 01, 2009 at 01:55:17 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009090120090901015517250b6b4f58d)
Ever heard of a sillier way of wasting money and fuel? The Indian Railways blew up nothing less than Rs 9 lakh on a near-empty Swarnajayanti Rajdhani Express connecting Ahmedabad and New Delhi on Monday. Unaware that the train, which runs from Tuesday through Saturday, will now be running on Monday as well, only 33 passengers from the city boarded the 10-coach train with a seating capacity of 424.
On Saturday, the Railway Board ordered the Ahmedabad division to extend Rajdhani Express to Monday, making it available to Amdavadis for all seven days. But they had less than 24 hours to inform the public about it. And only six hours on Sunday, from 8 am to 2 pm, to accept the bookings. While online booking is a convenient option for passengers, the change in deluxe super-fast train’s schedule was not updated on rly website
All this could have been taken care of had there been proper co-ordination between the Railway Board and the Ahmedabad Railway Division. Lack of timely communication led to wastage of fuel, resources and taxpayers’ money.
Assuming that the train was occupied by 424 passengers, the railways would have earned Rs 5.67 lakh. However, with 33 passengers on Monday, the earnings reduced to a measly Rs 42,535! Besides this, a team of more than 50 people including TTEs, catering staff, maintenance staff and attendants was available to serve just 33 passengers. Had the authorities shifted the scattered passengers to one compartment, it would have given the travellers a sense of security during the night journey.
Of the 33 passengers, four were travelling to Rajasthan and the rest to New Delhi. The first AC coach had only one passenger, while second and third AC compartments had three and 29 people respectively. “They could have cut down on the staff and reduced the remuneration expenditure.
While online booking is a convenient option for passengers, the change in deluxe super-fast train’s schedule was not updated on rly websiteAlso, the fuel used to run the generator which powers the AC was being wasted since there weren’t more than, on an average, eight people in a coach. ” What more, this near-empty train blocked the tracks on the route for other fully-loaded passenger and goods trains.
Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Garud told Mirror: “Since we were informed quite late about extending Rajdhani Express service to Monday, we did not get much time to publicise it. As a result a lot of passengers never came to know of it. However, from next Monday onwards, we will see more traffic.”
All about the money
Railway earnings for fully-occupied 424-seat train: Rs 5,67,990
Expenses incurred for a single trip: Rs 9 lakh
Earnings on Monday: Rs 42,535
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, September 01, 2009 at 01:55:17 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009090120090901015517250b6b4f58d)
Ever heard of a sillier way of wasting money and fuel? The Indian Railways blew up nothing less than Rs 9 lakh on a near-empty Swarnajayanti Rajdhani Express connecting Ahmedabad and New Delhi on Monday. Unaware that the train, which runs from Tuesday through Saturday, will now be running on Monday as well, only 33 passengers from the city boarded the 10-coach train with a seating capacity of 424.
On Saturday, the Railway Board ordered the Ahmedabad division to extend Rajdhani Express to Monday, making it available to Amdavadis for all seven days. But they had less than 24 hours to inform the public about it. And only six hours on Sunday, from 8 am to 2 pm, to accept the bookings. While online booking is a convenient option for passengers, the change in deluxe super-fast train’s schedule was not updated on rly website
All this could have been taken care of had there been proper co-ordination between the Railway Board and the Ahmedabad Railway Division. Lack of timely communication led to wastage of fuel, resources and taxpayers’ money.
Assuming that the train was occupied by 424 passengers, the railways would have earned Rs 5.67 lakh. However, with 33 passengers on Monday, the earnings reduced to a measly Rs 42,535! Besides this, a team of more than 50 people including TTEs, catering staff, maintenance staff and attendants was available to serve just 33 passengers. Had the authorities shifted the scattered passengers to one compartment, it would have given the travellers a sense of security during the night journey.
Of the 33 passengers, four were travelling to Rajasthan and the rest to New Delhi. The first AC coach had only one passenger, while second and third AC compartments had three and 29 people respectively. “They could have cut down on the staff and reduced the remuneration expenditure.
While online booking is a convenient option for passengers, the change in deluxe super-fast train’s schedule was not updated on rly websiteAlso, the fuel used to run the generator which powers the AC was being wasted since there weren’t more than, on an average, eight people in a coach. ” What more, this near-empty train blocked the tracks on the route for other fully-loaded passenger and goods trains.
Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Garud told Mirror: “Since we were informed quite late about extending Rajdhani Express service to Monday, we did not get much time to publicise it. As a result a lot of passengers never came to know of it. However, from next Monday onwards, we will see more traffic.”
All about the money
Railway earnings for fully-occupied 424-seat train: Rs 5,67,990
Expenses incurred for a single trip: Rs 9 lakh
Earnings on Monday: Rs 42,535
