Ferozepur, November 7, 2020: The railways still hold good its stand on resuming the train services in the State only after clearance of tracks, platforms and railway premises by farmers, said railway sources.
While the Punjab government has stated that the rail tracks are clear for goods trains only and such type of operation is not acceptable to the railways. Indian railways cannot be guided by anyone for operating the particular trains. Railway has its own system for operating the trains throughout the country.
The railway is keen to start the trains in view of the upcoming festivals of lights – Diwali and families of armed forces have also requested the Union government to start plying of passenger trains so that they could join the families while posted at far-flung areas.
More-over, railway and passengers both are also facing a lot inconvenience for the refund of tickets and rescheduling their plans time and again in view of the uncertainty over arriving any decision between the farmers and government. The most affected class is daily passengers who have to make arrangements to stay at the place of posting.
Even Punjab Station Masters are also being conveyed the the message that only goods trains will be allowed on the tracks and in such circumstances, it is not possible to resume the train services as the number of operations are involved before running the trains.
Chairman and CEO Railway Board on Friday evening had clearly stated that it is not possible for Railways to discriminate between customers and selectively run certain kinds of freight trains. He has also requested the State Govt to clear the track and stations for the operation of all trains.
Earlier the stand of the railway was to clear the tracks and the farmers shifted their dharna to the platforms which too were a hindrance in the smooth running of trains. Now when the platforms have been cleared, the farmers have put up sit-in dharna in the railway premises outside the stations which too is not acceptable to the railways.
Sources said, still at certain places the farmers have shifted their sit-in dharna, first from tracks to platforms and now platforms to railway station premises but the railway will start the goods and passengers trains simultaneously. However, after lifting of dharna from the platforms, the railway staff has started checking the safety arrangements by closely monitoring the tracks where the tracks were blocked.
DRM Ferozepur has already made it clear that the railway will either run the trains or not but cannot work on the farmers dictated terms.
