Passengers demand retiring room at Una railway station

Rajesh Sharma

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Una, December 9

A retiring room for passengers at the Una railway station has been demanded repeatedly. The station caters to passengers not only from Una district, but also from Hamirpur, Mandi and parts of Kangra district.

Una is the nearest broad gauge rail station that has daily connectivity with the National Capital through Jan Shatabdi and other express trains, and also with other important destinations such as Haridwar, Ambala, Chandigarh and Saharanpur. A weekly express train service is also available till Hazur Sahib, Nanded, in Maharashtra.

Passengers, who have to board the Una-Delhi Jan Shatabdi train, have to reach the station by 5 am. Most of them prefer to reach Una by late evening or at night to ensure they are not late to catch the train.

Consequently, the platform gradually gets occupied by passengers through the night, while those with families have to pay for a comfortable night stay in nearby hotels.

Serving soldiers from the state frequently travel by the Jan Shatabdi train and like other passengers, they too either stay the whole night on the platform or are have to take an alternative shelter in the city, particularly during the winter and the rainy season.

The Una railway station became functional around 24 years ago, but the basic infrastructure, particularly facilities for passengers, are still missing. This is despite the fact that it is included in the list of 1,000 stations being developed as ””Adarsh”” stations in the country by the Railways.

VS Chauhan, Station Superintendent, Una railway station, said that on repeated demands by the Retired Employees Union of the state government, a proposal for a retiring room had been sent to the higher authorities, but the response was still awaited. In a retiring room dormitory, passengers are entitled to a bed along with bedding for Rs 300 a night.

Mukesh Kumar, a passenger from Hamirpur, who travelled by the Jan Shatabdi train on Friday, said that as hotels are too expensive, passengers from far-off places stay at the Radha Krishna temple near the railway station or at some other religious place at night.