A press meet scheduled with the union minister of railways Suresh Prabhu, after the laying of the foundation stone for the Dimapur-Zubza railway line, was cancelled at the last moment, under the plea he had to get back to Delhi.
The cancellation had deprived media and other citizens an opportunity to air their grievances and suggestions for improving services and facilities at Dimapur railway station. Nagaland Post has been raising the issue of poor train services and lack of quotas at Dimapur railway station since 1995.
Even on the day Suresh Prabhu was to inaugurate the construction of the Dimapur-Zubza railway line, Nagaland Post highlighted crucial issues on the neglect of Dimapur Railway Station by the NFR in order to draw the attention of the union minister.
The issues were also raised with NFR officials but they appeared disinclined to discuss them; apparently since no convincing explanations could were given on the poor treatment meted out Dimapur passengers.
This is in view of the fact that, despite contributing the second highest revenue to the NFR(after Guwahati Railway Station), Dimapur is lagging behind in improved facilities and quota to meet the growing demands of passengers.
A total of 40 long and medium distance trains from Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, pass through Dimapur but not even one has been introduced at Dimapur. The only train from Dimapur-Guwahati presently is Nagaland Express. As stated, Dimapur lost the Jan Shatabdi (Guwahati-Dimapur) introduced in 1996 for Nagaland. Today it runs under ‘Guwahati-Jorhat’ Jan Shatabdi.
Another issue of serious concern is the shifting of the railway trial court from Dimapur to Tinsukia for offences under Dimapur. According to a former senior court official, the legal fraternity at Tinsukia have made an unwritten rule, that only advocates from Tinsukia and not Nagaland will be allowed to represent clients in any case. So far, Nagaland government has failed to recognise the priorities for development of both air and rail services to promote trade and travel.
Despite the volume of passengers and revenue earned from Dimapur; there are no Nagas employed in any of the branches at the railway station nor in other level such as Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTEs). The encroachment on railway lands is also a serious issue that robs Dimapur railway station of much needed space for development works. The main drawback is that the state government and MPs have failed to address the issues and prepare a memo for serious consideration by the railway ministry.