Passengers demand more trains on Jammu-Katra route

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 24

Local passengers have written to the Railway ministry demanding immediate start of more trains on the Jammu-Udhampur-Katra route.

A diesel multiple unit (DMU) train stopped by the Railways authorities has created a mess in the already overburdened trains on this route.

After the start of a train to Katra in July, all four DMUs running between Pathankot and Udhampur via Jammu Tawi were extended to Katra along with an express train (Shri Shakti Express). As maximum passengers come to Jammu to pay obeisance at the Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra, all four DMUs got overburdened, creating troubles for the daily passengers of the DMUs. The authorities stopped one more DMU for Udhampur-Katra in the first week of January, which has escalated the problems of the local passengers.

Daily passengers belonging to Udhampur, Reasi Katra, Ramnagar, Kathar, Sangar, Bajalta and Jammu, after getting unfruitful response from the Jammu railway authorities, wrote a letter to the Railway Minister and demanded one more DMU for this route, including starting of the DMU stopped recently.

“We want one more local DMU from Udhampur to Jammu and back. We also want the authorities to restart the DMU withdrawn recently,” passengers wrote.

“Students of Udhampur studying in Jammu, especially women are facing more problems due to a heavy rush in the DMUs. When we asked the station manager in Jammu, he failed to give a satisfactory reply,” passengers added in the letters.

They also demanded immediate transfer of the station manager for behaving improperly.

Ashwani Sharma, station manager, Jammu Tawi said, “We were directed by the headquarters to stop this DMU. We just followed the instructions.”

“The reason must be the dense fog, due to which it was cancelled and its restoration will be decided by the Jalandhar headquarters,” he added.

Apart from six trains that the Railways Ministry proposed to run up to Katra, Railways Minister Sadanand Gowda, in the 2014 Rail Budget, had announced three more trains for Jammu and Katra, including Indore-Jammu Tawi Express (weekly), Kamakhya (Assam)-Katra Express (weekly) via Darbhanga and Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express (bi-weekly). But no train after Shri Shakti Express was extended to Katra.