Students, daily wagers bear the brunt of frequent train cancellations in Visakhapatnam

Frequent train cancellations at Visakhapatnam Junction causing passenger resentment and huge revenue loss to Railways.

Frequent cancellation of trains in the name of safety works, especially of high-occupancy trains that originate from or terminate at Visakhapatnam Junction, is not only causing deep resentment among passengers but is also causing a huge revenue loss to the Railways.

Some of the key trains that are being cancelled are on extremely busy routes like Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam-Tirupati and Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada, which span different rail divisions and railway zones

“Different railway zones impose ‘traffic blocks’ to facilitate safety and development works in their respective jurisdictions. These blocks are generally planned during non-peak hours for a maximum of three hours a day, except in the case of ‘mega blocks’, when the traffic block extends for six hours during major works like placement of Limited Height Subways under the tracks,” according to railway sources.

“A ‘single line working’ would be implemented, to the extent possible, to prevent cancellation of trains. That is, if one line is blocked, the other one would be used in a such a manner that both up and down trains would utilise that portion of the single track to prevent total cancellation of the trains,” they say.

The highly patronised Visakhapatnam-Kadapa Tirumala Express has been cancelled from August 5 to 10 and in the return direction from August 6 to 11. Uday Express, Simhadri and Machilipatnam Express have already been cancelled. These trains are being cancelled on and off for nearly 10 months now.

“Short-distance trains to Machilipatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur can be operated up to Rajahmundry, Nidadavole or Samalkot for the convenience of daily commuters and college students coming to Visakhapatnam city. A majority of them are Monthly Season Ticket (MST) holders,” says Katam Chandra Rao, honorary president of Duvvada Railway Users’ Association (DRUA).

“Students coming to the engineering colleges, near Duvvada, and for higher studies in Visakhapatnam city, are facing difficulties due to frequent cancellations,” he says.