The rail commuters on the Delhi-Gurgaon-Rewari line, particularly those undertaking short ‘local’ travel, are a harried lot, as they are made to wait interminably, with the Express trains always being given preference on this network. They allege that every day the local train from Sarai Rohilla to Farrukh Nagar faces delays – it is allowed to move only when the bigger trains have left or crossed the station. For example, last Wednesday the 74033 DMU, which is always packed, left Sarai Rohilla station ten minutes late, then was stationed at Patel Nagar for some time, thereafter it was stopped at the ‘outer’ of the Delhi Cantt. Station (to ensure that the Ashram Super Fast train could leave the City first), and stopped again for 45 minutes at Bijwasan station to ensure that a train from Chandigarh to Bandra could pass. The DMU reached Gurgaon one and half hours late, and this is almost a daily occurrence on this network. Pradip Yadav, who lives in Gurgaon, wants the authorities to make the travelling on passenger trains easier, more timely and safer, as this could help in cutting down on number of vehicles on the roads. “I regularly go to Delhi using the local trains, but they sorely need to improve service,” he adds. Regular ‘old timers’ say that the local DMU has been facing this discrimination for long, To overcome this problem and harassment, the passengers are now demanding that 22472 Bikaner Superfast Express, which starts from Sarai Rohilla, should be asked to stop at Gurgaon station. Thakur, who regularly commutes from Gurgaon to Delhi, and sometimes to Rewari, says that railway authorities should look into the problems of passengers and start delivering on the promise of ‘acche din aane waale hain’.υ
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