The Railway Convention Committee (RCC), which visited the city this week, reviewed several proposals including development of Nagpur railway station as world class, turning Ajni station into a model one and upgrading Itwari station. The long-pending demand of setting up a new zonal office of the railways here also came up for discussion at the official meeting.
The RCC is a panel of 18 Lok Sabha members, currently headed by chairman Atulchandra Sethi. Unlike the standing committee of Parliament, RCC has specific powers to monitor on-gong and pending projects and make recommendations accordingly to the railway minister. "Normally suggestions of RCC are accepted by the railway ministry in its annual budget," said Chandrapur MP Hansraj Ahir, a member of the RCC, while briefing the media here on Saturday.
"While the chairman could not make it to the meeting, other members took a serious view of the fact that trains on the Howrah-Mumbai route have been running late ever since the service was disrupted after the Naxal attack on the Gyaneshwari Express more than a year ago. The members were of the opinion that trains should be rescheduled to avoid long delays to suit the passengers," Ahir said.
One of the important suggestions was that setting of a third line on the Ballarshah-Itarsi section would help railways in adding several new trains and augmenting the traffic. There was also a demand to build a broad gauge line between Gondia and Jabalpur as it would reduce rail journey to North India by at least six hours. The Narkhed-Amravati line is nearing completion and the RCC assured to seek funds so that the remaining work is completed fast. Similarly, the rail line to Wadsa connecting Gadchiroli to the rail network would get priority as it would bring in development opportunity for the most backward district of the state, he added.
A new zone culling parts of South-eastern and Central Railway could be formed with Nagpur as headquarter. This would add to city's importance as a major junction connecting trains from east, west, north and south. A proposal for starting inter-city between Nagpur and Chandrapur was also mooted.
Ahir said the members also requested officials to examine the possibility of changing routes of Rajdhani trains passing via Nagpur to reduce travel time. The RCC members pointed out that while gauge conversion had been completed, height of the platforms at some stations like Brahmapuri, Sindewahi had not been altered for want of funds.
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