People voice various expectations from Railway Budget

Ahead of Union Railway Budget 2016 which will be presented in the Parliament on Thursday, the people in West Bengal expressed their various expectations from the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

People from different walks of society who commute by local trains in a regular basis in the Sealdah and Howrah sections expressed what they expect from the railway budget.  PK Mukherjee who often goes to Delhi by Rajdhani and Duranto said the quality of food should be improved. “The price of tickets has gone up and simultaneously the quality of food has gone down. Plus the quantity has substantially reduced and this is most unfortunate.” He said that during winter when Delhi bound trains are delayed from anything between four to eight hours; railway authorities should provide food to the passengers.” This is an annual happening and plans should be made from ahead to combat the situation,” he said adding “If safety, security and comfort are the main motto of the Railways then it should try seriously to ensure that the journeys are safe and comfortable.” Amina Khatun, a daily passenger who comes to Kolkata from the district said that steps should be made to introduce toilets in local trains.” If the Centre and the State governments are trying hard to make the districts defecation free, then it should try to ensure that the even the suburban trains have toilets.” She said that it was unfortunate that the planners did not consider this to be an important thing and were busy in decorating the long distance trains. Bio toilets should be given in local trains, she demanded. For Sujay Chakraborty, another daily passenger running local trains on time is very important. “I work in a private firm and the authorities are not ready to allow me beyond a certain time in office. But despite my best efforts I am often late just because the local trains do not run on time. This is an important issue and the Railway Minister should take steps to ensure that trains run on time.” Priyanka Dasgupta who travels to the city from Naihati said that she often returns home late and there is inadequate deployment of security personnel inside the ladies compartment.