Threatens rail blockade if decision not withdrawn
Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) has threatened to block all trains passing through Dimapur railway station, if Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) doesn’t immediately rescind its decision to run Nagaland Express up to Ledo and terminate the train there, instead of Dimapur as was done until recently.
Taking note of the report published in the Nagaland Post, DNSU president Sedevilie Angami asserted that such “hasty decision” of NFR affecting passengers of Dimapur, especially the students, would not be accepted and warned that the union would be forced to block any train passing through Dimapur railway station. DNSU questioned the logic of NFR’s decision of shift Nagaland Express up to Ledo, as the train would no longer terminate at Dimapur but at Ledo.
He said the “ignorant decision” of NFR to downgrade Dimapur station with other smaller stations in Assam was totally “unfair and discriminatory”, despite being aware of the fact that the station generates the second highest revenue in the Northeast after Guwahati,.
Asserting that the rights of passengers of Dimapur cannot be deprived just to meet the needs of passengers in Ledo, Sedevilie termed the reasons cited by NFR for extension of the train to Ledo as baseless.
Further, he said the train service has been smoothly functioning for the past nine years and there has never been any question of lack of facilities for maintenance of coaches, proper water supply, AC coach, cleanliness, etc.
“If such had been the case all these years, how was NFR functioning? And now this has been cited as an excuse instead of finding solution and providing better service,” he said .
Referring to the plea of NFR that decrease in the number of train passengers due to COVID-19, pandemic has led to the decision, DNSU pointed out that the numbers decreased on an average since there were SOPs for travellers. He stressed that NFR should not be expecting to generate revenue at such a period of time when the entire economy was hampered badly.
DNSU claimed that the NFR’s drastic decision has affected the students in particular and citizens of Nagaland in general, all of whom could not afford air service and have to depend on trains for transportation. The DNSU therefore, demanded revocation of the decision failing which it would be compelled to agitate.