A train on slow track

VIJAY UPADHYAY
Etah. At a time when trains all over the world are reaching speeds exceeding 550 kmph. and the rise in the speed by only a fraction makes its place in the news headlines in the country, a train in UP is still running at a speed befitting a snail.

The Tundla-Etah train is making a record for being probably the slowest running passenger train in the plains of India.

Covering a distance of 66 km in over four hours over a strainght, no-traffic track, the only train connecting Etah to the railway network at Tundla runs at an average speed of just 16 kmph, maintaining it ever since the track was inaugurated by the first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad in 1959.

Over 47 years have gone by the day when this train first reached the 150 acre railway station of Etah on January 18, 1959 but the track that could have become the lifeline of this extremely backward area of Uttar Pradesh, lies virtually unused, save for the only three-bogie train that makes a daily trip between Tundla and Etah, chugging leisurely at a slower-than-a-bicycle pace and stopping randomly through this 66 km trip to board passengers in mid-way!

Known as Itminaan Express among locals, the train represents the unhurried manner in which life goes on in this part of the State, while just about 80 km and 90 minutes away by bus, the town of Agra bustles with activity.

The issue of the train's pace and frequency has been a matter of much debate in Parliament with members from the three parliamentary seats of Etah district raising the question of the track's linkage with other towns and the speeding up of the train. Despite several assurances from various Railway Ministers during this 47 year long period, the train still runs at its original speed, even though the steam engine has long been replaced.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman torched to death by inlaws on International Women's Day in India

AGRA.               It could serve as a well-placed slap in the face of the the groups of so-called women's rights activists who all too recently celebrated International Women’s Day, fervently praising the contribution made by women to the society and vowing to prevent violence against the feminine gender comfortably ensconced in luxurious clubs and hotels.    While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.    Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a strok
Read more

My views on Libya, India and the permanent SC seat

Image
On Wednesday, the British government 'de-recognized' the Gaddafi government and decided that it was in the interest of democracy to recognize the Libyan rebels as the only legal representative of the Libyan people. Immediately after that, the British Police entered the Libyan embassy in London and forced the remaining Libyan diplomats out of UK. France has already been parachuting modern weaponry, arms and ammunition to the Libyan rebel strongholds and both France and the United States have recognized the rebels as the legal Libyan representative power. While I am not a fan of Gaddafi or his regime in any way or form but I am equally disappointed in NATO's tactics and the double standards being played by the western powers in the Arab world. Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein had been two sore patches in the otherwise near-sweeping 'western conquest' of the Arab world and its oil. Only now, when a group of disenchanted Libyans, trained and provided for by wes
Read more

Agra unit to turn waste to wood

Image
Vishal Sharma / Agra December 29, 2008, 0:00 IST Govardhan Udyog plans to use cowdung to produce particle board. Faced with the task of developing environment-friendly technology for industry due to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, entrepreneurs in Agra are realising the cost-effective potential of such technologies and innovations. Govardhan Udyog is one such unit which plans to use a non-conventional raw material, cowdung, to produce particle board and pharmaceutical products. The unit was inaugurated this week on the Agra-Delhi national highway near the Mathura refinery, about 55 km from Agra. Company sources said the basic raw material used in the manufacture of particle board will be cow dung. This will perhaps make it the first particle board manufacturing facility using cowdung as the raw material. Govardhan Udyog Managing Director SK Mittal said particle boards were emerging as a viable alternative in designing office furniture and automation products in the country as c
Read more