Despite around 10,000 passengers daily travelling by train to and from Dimapur, the Northeast Frontier Railway(NFR) has placed less than 2000 railway tickets for such a large number of travellers.
When contacted, DMV chief reservation officer (CRO) Priyatosh Dey told Nagaland Post that less than 2,000 reserved tickets were allotted to the station here, however adding that the figures kept changing. Railway officials have confirmed that more than 10,000 passengers commuted to and from Dimapur on a daily basis.
Dey also disclosed that of the ten daily trains via Dimapur, only 1,128 tickets were allocated for Dimapur. This gross inadequacy has compelled travellers to purchase tickets online from Mariani or other stations, with higher cost.
With regard to the five weekly trains that travelled via Dimapur, the CRO said 544 tickets were allocated to Dimapur.
Meanwhile, according to a chart displayed at the CRO’s office here, the earning from sale of tickets at Dimapur railway station was Rs 1,07,75,250(April), Rs 1,43,53,760(May) and Rs 1,46,69,450(June) this year.
NFR officials have also confirmed that with the figure, Dimapur, is the second-highest revenue-generating railway station under Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), behind Guwahati railway station.
Dey also told Nagaland Post that he has been personally advocating for more train services at Dimapur to meet the ever increasing demand. Dey said he had also approached higher authorities for additional trains en route Bangalore, as currently there was only one weekly service with a paltry ticket quota of 12 seats for travellers here.
Dey also said he also emphasised on a daily morning train from Dimapur to Guwahati to enable same-day travel for commuters, especially those from the business community.
It may be recalled that the Jan Shatabdi for Guwahati-Dimapur-Guwahati launched in 1996, was later extended to Furkating and subsequently to Jorhat. The BG Express from Guwahati-Dimapur(1998) now originates at Mariani(2020); Nagaland Express(2011) from Dimapur now originates at Ledo(2020).
These trains now halt at Dimapur for hardly five to ten minutes and causes huge rush but NFR authorities remain unmoved.
All that has been said is about transforming Dimapur into a world standard/class station but unfortunately, this does not include ticket facilities for passengers.
The saddest part is the government of Nagaland is also oblivious to these problems and leaving the public in the lurch.