Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 14
Revenue generation at the Dimapur Railway Station has increased by two fold over the past 5 years. Comparatively lagging in terms of amenities and sanitation, the station nevertheless continues to remain an unfailing cash cow of the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR), second only to Guwahati Railway Station.
Annual earnings of the station crossed the Rs. 60 crore mark during the 2015-16 financial year with the bulk of the income coming from passenger ticket sales. The increase in revenue bodes well for the station as upkeep funding of rail stations is stated to be directly related to its earnings.
The 2015-16 earnings, according to RN Ranmung, Divisional Commercial Manager, Lumding Division, far surpasses the earnings of 2012-13 at Rs. 31.6 crore. At a media interaction in Dimapur on August 14, Ranmung disclosed that the station experienced significant increase in ticket sales during the past the two years in addition to a 10.4 percent growth in parcel earnings.
While returns from freight haulage remains negligible, he made an interesting observation stating that inbound cargo trumps outbound cargo in terms of quantity. With export of Nagaland products negligible, the IOC, FCI and traders remain as the station’s key clients in the freight segment.
As per Ranmung, “Based on earnings of Passenger Reservation System or PRS and Unreserved Ticketing System (ticket sales) categorisation of stations are done for providing amenities.” Currently, Dimapur Railway Station is placed in category A. Yearly earnings of 60-plus crore is said to be the accepted benchmark to get to the next level – A+1, the category in which the Guwahati Railway Station is placed at present.
Explaining the Railways’ position as regards investment, he said, “Contrary to (perceived) notion, the Railways get no free financial support from the government. All we get is monopoly in the rail transport sector. We too get gross budgetary support from the government as capital investment, which has to be repaid in the form of dividends annually.”
Nevertheless, he added that attempt is being made to improve the facilities at the station. UTS counters have been increased to 4 and the number of counters at the PRS section stands at 3+3. However, not more than 2 PRS counters are open on any given day.
Passenger amenities like water, electricity, sanitation and food vending units have been ensured, Ranmung said. Stating that effort is being made to maintain a higher frequency of cleaning drives, he termed cleanliness as a big issue, which it calls for a conscious effort from passengers.
The station has 3 platforms with platform 1 and 2 narrow and hardly used. It has resulted in congestion at platform 1. To ease this, he said that broadening work on platform 2 and 3 will be undertaken soon without giving a timeframe. On the traffic frequency, it was informed that 21 mail express pairs of trains have stoppage at Dimapur, while two pairs of mail express trains (Nagaland and BG Express) originate and terminate here. In addition, there is a passenger train that shuttles between Dimapur and Jorhat daily and another between Tinsukia and Lumding, he said.
For smooth railways, Ranmung sought the assistance and suggestions from the public. The Railways have the system of ‘users’ consultative committee’ at Zonal and Divisional levels, which act as public liaison. While the public can directly write to the Station Managers to address grievances, he said that Nagaland has members in the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) and in the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC).
In Assam, these committees play a critical role in highlighting passenger grievances and providing suggestions for improving or increasing train service. Ranmung said that there are four members from Nagaland at the ZRUCC and two in the DRUCC, all of whom are prominent state personalities the public can contact.
