Move to cancel train

Indian Railways is adding several new trains in its fleet every year but it is very surprising that two important trains of Assam are being planned for permanent cancellation. The proposal has been approved by the Railway Board and as a result 12086/12085 Dibrugarh– Guwahati –Dibrugarh Shatabdi Express (tri-weekly) and 12526/12525 Dibrugarh –Kolkata –Dibrugarh Superfast Express (weekly) will be cancelled with immediate effect. The cancellation of Dibrugarh Shatabdi Express is not surprising since the passenger response is not at all satisfactory. The timings and the ticket fares are found to be not attractive for the passengers. For instance, the luxury Volvo bus fare between Guwahati and Dibrugarh is in the range from Rs. 800 to Rs. 950 while the Shatabdi fare ranges from Rs. 950 to Rs. 1200 depending on the dynamic fare policy of railways. It should be noted that the Shatabdi fare also includes the catering charges consisting of packaged drinking water, tea, breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner. Both the luxury Volvo buses as well as the Shatabdi take nearly 9 hours between Guwahati and Dibrugarh. Keeping in view the road condition and safety, the Shatabdi should have been the first choice. Unfortunately, the buses are still the first choice for the daily passengers.

Dibrugarh Shatabdi's counterpart is the 12088/12087 Guwahati–Naharlagun–Guwahati Shatabdi Express (tri-weekly) that connects Itanagar's nearest railhead Naharlagun with Guwahati. The passenger response is more or less the same as that of the Dibrugarh Shatabdi Express. It is weird that only the Dibrugarh Shatabdi is in the list of cancellation. It is still not vivid why railways failed to compare both the cases before approving the cancellation of the Dibrugarh-Shatabdi train. It would have been better if railways would have tried changing the route and the timings of the Dibrugarh-Shatabdi Express before taking this drastic step. As of now, the tri-weekly run of Dibrugarh-Shatabdi is not very much helpful as there is no service of the train on Sunday, no service from Dibrugarh to Guwahati on Saturday and no service from Guwahati to Dibrugarh on Monday. If such a luxurious and prestigious train doesn't have the services on the weekends then you cannot consider it to become a popular train. Another thing that can be added is that the timings are not at all passenger-friendly. It starts from Dibrugarh station which is located in the Banipur area. Catching this train early in the morning is quite difficult and it is almost impossible in the winter.

The Dibrugarh–Kolkata–Dibrugarh Superfast Express is a popular train connecting Assam and West Bengal. It is also unofficially known as Indrani Express as well as Dihing Express. Last year, the train was given swanky Utkrisht Coaches keeping the passenger comfort in mind. In that same year, the train got another upgradation by addition of German technology based LHB Coaches which enhanced its safety as well as luxury. This year before the pandemic, it was planned to divert the train through the Bogibeel Bridge. As a result, it would have served as the only train to Kolkata for the people of North Bank, giving an access to Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Rangapara North, Udalguri etc. Cancellation of this train will not only affect the people between Dibrugarh and Kolkata but also snap the possibility of boarding a long distance superfast train for the people of North Bank.

Therefore, through your esteemed daily, I want to bring the matter into the notice of common rail users of Assam and also the Assam Railway Passengers' Association (ARPA). Moreover, I want to add some suggestions that can help to improve the situation. When other parts of the country are enjoying the benefits of modern trains like Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) and Tejas Express, we are on the verge of losing a Shatabdi Express. The Dibrugarh Shatabdi and the Naharlagun Shatabdi trains were introduced in 2017. Although both of them failed to draw the attention of passengers yet it was the beginning of high speed and luxury rail travel in Assam. These two Shatabdi trains are operated on a tri-weekly basis. The train starts from Dibrugarh to Guwahati on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as 12086 Dibrugarh – Guwahati Shatabdi. Once it arrives Guwahati, the same rake (set of coaches that makes a complete train) goes to Naharlagun as 12088 Guwahati –Naharlagun Shatabdi in the evening. It starts from Naharlagun on the next day, i.e. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as 12087 Naharlagun – Guwahati Shatabdi. As soon as the train arrives Guwahati, the same rake is then sent to Dibrugarh in the afternoon as 12085 Guwahati – Dibrugarh Shatabdi. The train rake consists of six (6) AC Chair Cars and two (2) Luggage cum Generator Car. I want to suggest our railway department to reduce the number of coaches as the patronage of the train is very low. If two rakes are made with these coaches, then it will be feasible to run both the Shatabdi trains on a daily basis. Keeping only one (1) Luggage-cum-Generator Car between two (2) AC Chair Car coaches will be an ideal composition for this train. Secondly, the timings must be changed. The departure time from Dibrugarh is too early, it must be postponed to at least 6 am so that passengers can reach the station without any hassle. Thirdly, the train can be extended up to New Tinsukia. As of now, it runs on the Simaluguri–Sivasagar–Dibrugarh route without touching New Tinsukia. Not only this, the train skips some of the important stations like Jagiroad and Diphu. Therefore, adding new stoppages like Tinsukia, Diphu etc., can help to facilitate even more passengers thereby improving the revenue generation from this train. Last but not the least, the train can be given a tighter schedule by removing the slack time as most of the time it is spotted running much ahead of its schedule. There are possibility of covering the Guwahati – Dibrugarh route in less than 8 hours if the running slot is adjusted properly. On the other hand, the cancellation of Dibrugarh – Kolkata Superfast Express is really strange. It would have been the fastest train between Dibrugarh and Kolkata through the Bogibeel Bridge by covering the distance in only 25 hours, while its contender 15960/15959 Dibrugarh – Howrah – Dibrugarh Kamrup Express takes around 36 hours. The train has a proper time schedule, so there is nothing to suggest. The only thing needed is the zeal from railways to rethink the plan of its cancellation.

Abhinav Phangcho Choudhury,

Kahilipara, Guwahati