Rail passengers associations seek single entity for different modes of public transport
The two-hour-long internal meeting – called ‘Mi Mumbai Local Boltoy’ – was held outside Dadar station on Saturday.
Mumbai: A single entity should operate Mumbai and MMR’s public transport similar to that of London and Singapore, different rail passengers associations across the city said in a meeting, adding that it might improve the efficiency of different modes of transport.
The two-hour-long internal meeting – called ‘Mi Mumbai Local Boltoy’ – was held outside Dadar station on Saturday. The development came on the heels of the Indian Railways completing 170 years on Sunday where the rail passenger associations discussed ways to improve the system and demands which they will be presenting to the Rail Ministry soon.
The associations had also initiated an eight-question survey that began on March 27. As of April 15, more than 400 respondents have participated in that.
“We discussed the need to have a single organisation responsible for operating trains, buses, metro rail, autos and taxis throughout the MMR based on this survey. At present, multiple organisations are operating and maintaining buses, separate agencies for the metro rail and then the Indian Railways. We need a unified body that will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of all modes of public transport and its integration,” said Siddesh Desai, a member of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh who was present at the meeting.
In Mumbai, the BEST operates nearly 3,300 buses, whereas the MMRDA is building new metro rail lines and three different metro lines are operational. Then, there are aggregator cabs, black and yellow taxis and auto rickshaws. Apart from this, there are transport undertakings in Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar and other parts of MMR.
As per transport experts, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation was formed to plan and operate the suburban local trains on Central Railways (CR) and Western Railways (WR).
“Then, there was the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) which doesn’t have the statutory or empowered status. Global cities have successful multimodal transport services that have always relied on an integrated approach with a common organisation,” a transport expert told HT.
As per the associations, the total number of daily passengers travelling on WR and CR has dropped to 61.95 lakh in 2022-23 from 76.34 lakh in 2019-20. The survey also spoke about the future of AC locals and the need to have four lines dedicated to the suburban rail.
“All the passenger associations have come to the consensus that the four rail lines need to be dedicated for the suburban trains,” Nandkumar Deshmukh, president, Federation of Rail Passengers Association, said, adding that 94% of people who participated in the survey agree with this.
“We will be preparing a detailed demand and shall approach the Rail Ministry to hear us,” he said.
As far as AC local trains are concerned, 40% of the respondents feel that the fares of AC local trains should be at par with the first class tickets and at least 70% of people are of the view that AC coaches should be attached to the non-AC local trains, said N C Chaudhary, who is part of the rail association from Vasai-Virar and had attended the meeting.
They have also sought more safety measures to curb accidents due to track crossing and falling from trains.
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