Title - Railway station issues, rail services remain unattended

Friday's visit by the general manager of the Central Railway, Subodh Jain, to the Nashik Road railway station, which is the only railway station within the Nashik city limits, has brought to the fore not only the total lack of coordination between the railway authorities and the state government, but also the long pending woes of passengers using the station.Despite Nashik being an important and rapidly growing city in the state and the number of passengers using the railways on the increase, several issues on improving the rail services have been pending for a long time. Some of the perennial issues include the introduction of dedicated train services between Mumbai and Nashik, improvement in passenger amenities, catering services, lodging and waiting room facilities, additional platforms, lift or an escalators to climb bridges and terminus facilities, adequate parking space.There have been numerous meetings, visits of senior railway officials and agitations, but the issues have remained neglected. At times, senior railway officials visited Nashik Road railway station have mixed business and pleasure by visiting Shirdi and other pilgrimage spots rather than focusing on contentious issues of rail services.Even with regards to a mega-event like the Kumbh, the coordination between the state government has remained a perennial problem. Even during the last Kumbh mela held in 2003-04, the railway authorities made arrangements on their own through their own funds, without being actively involved by state government agencies that received funds from the state and central governments.

The Nashik Road railway station has remained neglected both by its own officials as well as those of the state.

When the Great Indian Peninsula railway started laying rail tracks during the British regime in the 19th century, completing the first stretch between Mumbai and Thane and moving northwards towards Nashik, it was to pass through the Nashik city. However, following opposition from certain quarters culminated in a change in the alignment and the tracks were laid about nine kilometres away from the hub of the city, where the Nashik Road railway station stands today.

Eventually, after independence and creation of Maharashtra state, as Nashik gradually started transforming itself from an ancient town of pilgrimage to a modern city, the Nashik Road railway station became an important embarking and disembarking spot on the country's rail network. However, while Nashik city continued to grow, with infrastructure being added - albeit too little, too late- the railway station continued to remain just a station, despite Nashik being the divisional headquarters of the State government.

The Manmad railway junction created about 100 km north of Nashik Road station has become one of the major junctions on the railway network, with all facilities of a terminus and a workshop. Eventually, whenever trains for commuters from Nashik visiting Mumbai were introduced, they originated from Manmad, because of the terminus facilities. Most of the trains plying from Manmad and Mumbai for passengers of Mumbai and Nashik (except the Panchavati Express and the Godavari Express) were further extended from Manmad to Aurangabad, Nanded and further.

The demand for upgrading Nashik Road railway station as a terminus has been raised intermittently at various levels by rail users and organisations, but have been told by railway authorities that in absence of terminus facilities, trains have to be send to Manmad. Commuters plying daily between Mumbai and Nashik have been seeking dedicated trains between the two cities and have pointed out that trains originating from places like Nanded for Mumbai are too crowded to take the daily load between Nashik and Mumbai.

The outbursts of Jain, who expressed inability in creating an additional platform -the fourth at the station- speaks volumes about the efficiency of the railways, which has not even been able to repair the baggage scanner at Nashik Road railway station lying defunct since October 2010.