I think to some extend his point is valid. Sealdah division is actually a underperforming division if u consider the cities that it serves and it's area under jurisdiction, which is around 1000km and the highest for any div in ER. Sdah div has much more potential than what it is earning now There are certain flaws in the functioning that, if corrected, can definately help to achieve the actual potential of Sdah div
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1. Exploiting international interchange points - If u visit Petropole ever, u will find plenty of trucks standing...
more... there for entering Bangladesh, many carrying jute, food commodities, etc. But surprisingly the trade mostly takes place through roadways and not via railways although Sdah div has 2 important interchange points - Gede-Darshana and Petropole-Benepole. Sdah div can work on this and it will definately hwlp to increase the freight revenue of Sdah div
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2.Exploiting the tourist spots - Sdah div has 2 important tourist destinations - Hazarduari and Sundarban. Surprisingly Sdah div has not exploited the potential of Sundarban which is popular even in states other than WB also. After Sdah, u don't have any option other than EMU. Sdah div should have developed a terminal long back at Diamond Harbour or Canning and should have given proper connectivity with various parts of Bengal and other places just like SER did with Digha which was also a small station some 8-10 years back. Even u can get a reference of ASN div and Hwh div and how they have given proper connectivity to Deoghar (JSME) and Shantiniketan (BHP), Tarapith (RPH) respectively. Both have their dedicated trains for Kolkata with RPH having 5 daily and a triweekly train for Kolkata. They are even connected to various other parts of Bengal too. But Sdah div has, for some unknown reason, completely ignored the potential of Sundarban and has reduced Diamand Harbour and Canning to a mere suburban station. Just look out how Hwh div will exploit the Seoraphuli-Tarakeshwar-Arambagh-Jairambati-Bishnupur route after it gets completed
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3. Augmentation of ac coaches - Sdah div should have easily attached CC to various LGL bound passengers just like Hwh div did with Viswabharati fast pass. Just check the demand of Ac chair car in trains like Bhagirathi. The LGL pass at 16.40 can easily fill 1 or 2 CC along with 2-3 2S coaches provided it takes only 30mins more than Bhagirathi exp and the demand in Bhagirathi exp is known at all. Even the overnight pass by now should have been given an ideal composition of 6 Sl and 1 3rd ac coach. Even trains like Hazarduari and Dhono Dhanno should have augmented with more reserved coaches than UR. Same goes for trains like Haldibari Intercity and Tebhaga exp which jas evergreen patronage but has a handful of reserved coaches. Infact Sdah div removed 3ac of Tebhaga even after getting pretty good patronage. Recently they did the same thing with Gangasagar and Ballia exp by remove the HA1 coach although the coach used to run full
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4. Proper Infrastructure development - By now, Sdah div should have increased the pf lengths of stations of KNJ-LGL section as Sdah-LGL section is one of the highest passenger carrying section of Sdah div. But instead they have decided to ignore that section. Although some redevelopment work is going on at Baharmpur but untill the pf length of LGL is increased, the rakes of Hazarduari and Bhagirathi will continue to have a puny rake. By now, Bhagirathi and Huzarduari should have became a 20-22 coacher train due to the rush they experience but all that to the poor infra development of Sdah div, they are still running with mere 14 coaches
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5. Regular ticket checking - If u travel in any emu of Hwh div, u will often find surprise checking being done in them. But i have seldom seen this in Sdah div. Other than big stations, TTEs are hardly active in Sdah div. And i guess u might be aware of the large chunks of people travelling in locals without ticket, atleast that is what my expwrience has been in all these years. Even in trains like Hatey Bajarey and Teesta Torsa, one can find a lot of unauthorised passengers in the sl between Sdah and NH. So Sdah div should look upon this issue and implant TTEs and the entrance and exit of each and every suburban station. That will definately increase the passenger revenue of SDAH div from suburban section
