I've tried to do my bit...Let's see how much of this is implemented...Comments welcome...a copy of my email sent to the railway board
************************************************** ************Dear Sir,
Let me first congratulate you on this immaculate effor of asking the common public for their suggestions on the upcoming railway budget. Being a resident of Varanasi, I would like to present a few points which as per my understanding, could be important in the development of Varanasi as a city and its suburbs.
a)...
more... Introduction of a Jan Sadharan superfast express between Varanasi and BDTS(Mumbai Bandra) covering Surat and Vadodara for our worker class people who work in Gujrat and Mumbai.
b) Introduction of a superfast special between Varanasi and Agra via Lucknow/Kanpur - Looking at the high number of tourists who visit both Agra and Varanasi.
c) Introduction of an overnight superfast express train between Varanasi and Howrah via Gaya (12333/12334 Vibhuti express initially ran between these two cities but was later extended to Allahabad city for God knows, what reason. BSB now comes under RLWL and makes it quite difficult for local people to get confirmed tickets to howrah, also the connection is not quite as fast as it could be like some other trains which run through mughalsarai and gaya)
d) Introduction of Weekly Superfast train between Bangalore and Varanasi - It is quite a surprise to see that these two major cities of India are not connected to each other through Rail. Varanasi, being an education hub (with BHU and 3 other universities) and Bangalore being an IT/Employment hub, it becomes quite imperative to provide a fast rail connection to these cities.
e) Provide manual ticket vending machines at major stations, to remove the large queues and touts operating. This could even be integrated with the ATMs of major banks to directly debit the money from debit/credit cards and issue the tickets.
f) Provide escalators/lifts at major stations to help facilitate smoother movement of senior citizens/differently abled persons across platforms. I live in the UK and the smallest of railway stations here has these facilities, wonder why we can not provide these at least on our major stations in India. I know a few of my friends and relatives who due to these challenges are never able to board a train.
g) Provide better sanitation/hygiene facilities on stations/trains. When at station/platforms, wonder how many of us would have preferred using a toilet there unless of an absolute emergency. Hope this is given a major emphasis on, in this railway budget, and is implemented in the near future.
h) Provide better safety measures in the trains. Deploy more security forces, install cctv cameras in coaches to help make rail journeys a better and safe one.
Hoping to see some change in our railway framework with the upcoming budget
Thanks
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