SWR to increase reservation quota for Chalukya Express
South Western Railway has decided to the increase the reservation quota for Yeshwantpur and Hubli for the Puducherry/Tirunelveli–Dadar Chalukya Express (Train Nos. 11006 and 11022) by 72 berths in the sleeper coach, and by four and 10 berths in AC 2-tier and AC 3-tier coaches respectively.
Announcing this at the 14th Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) meeting held here on Friday, General Manager of South Western Railway Ashok Kumar Mital said the proposed enhancement in the reservation quota would be implemented with effect from March 25, 2013.
Mr. Mital’s announcement came after Mahendra Singh, ZRUCC member from Hubli, spoke about the problems being faced by passengers from Karnataka, especially after the extension of the Chalukya Express to Puducherry and Tirunelveli three days in a week.
He said that the extension had resulted in a reduction in the reservation quota for 17 stations, in the Bangalore–Davangere–Hubli–Belgaum region. He urged Mr. Mital to get the quota increased for the trains from 65 berths to 650 berths for Karnataka region, and earmark 50 per cent quota for Karnataka. He also wanted the Chalukya Express to be run as a daily train, instead of three days a week in each direction.
In response to his demand, Mr. Mital clarified that the zonal railway from where the train originated would decide the reservation quotas.
However, the zone had proposed to increase the reservation quota from March 2013, he added.
Earlier, Mr. Mital said that the performance during the first eight months of the current financial year till November 2012 had been encouraging for the zone. “The number of passengers carried increased from 124.57 million to 130.93 million till the end of November 2012. The originating passenger earnings up to November 2012 increased from Rs. 752.52 crore to Rs. 808.64 crore, an increase of 7.46 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year,” Mr. Mital said
Increase
Mr. Mital said that the railway’s total originating gross earnings, up to the end of November 2012, increased to Rs. 2717.32 crore, which was 17.14 per cent more than the corresponding period of the previous year’s earnings.
ZRUCC member P.V.S. Nageswara Rao requested that authorities introduce electrical multiple units and double-decker trains between Hubli and Bangalore, while Shankara Gowda Patil requested the General Manager to provide a pathway at Dharwad station for passengers on wheelchairs and trolleys, on both ends of the station.
Mr. Mital said that a proposal on the introduction of a superfast train between Hubli and Dadar had been sent to Railway Board. However, the board had not considered the proposal, due to path constraints at Central Railway, he added.
‘Number of passengers carried has increased
to 130.93 million as of November 2012’
Proposal for superfast train not considered due to path constraints: Mital
THE HINDU