Shanti Express Nadiad Maninagar railway station Ahmedabad Maninagar We only have two tracks running at Maninagar and they are already overworked . Giving stoppages to more than 62 trains will create chaos and all other trains will run late Dinesh Kumar, DRM, A’bad Division We again reiterated that all trains passing through Maninagar must be given stoppages . The GM was positive and said he would forward our request to the Railway Board Yogesh Mishra, Member of ZRUCC Death seems to be a part of our job description because of our mode of travel. Hundreds get off moving trains at Maninagar because it is easier to use the BRTS from there Kuldeep Sharma, regular commuter We used to climb aboard theevery day, talk and laugh together, and one day, he died before my eyes. He had got married only two months ago and had showed us his ring with pride," said Kuldeep Sharma, a 27-year-old IT professional. He was describing how he and a 22-year-old, known to him only as Mihir (actual name Pratik Disawa), had become train buddies before the latter's attempt to alight from the Shanti Express claimed his life on January 3, the first casualty of 2019.For daily commuters from Anand,and Vadodara,has for years been the railway station closest to their workplaces. They find it easier to travel from there rather thanrailway station in Kalupur. However, the lack of stoppages given to commuter trains such as Shanti Express led tostation becoming a death trap for passengers attempting to climb down from moving trains.Data from the Railway Police Force (RPF) shows that at least 10 accidents related to passengers took place in 2018 at Maninagar railway station. Of these, four were fatal, resulting in death . In a second such incident in as many months, yet another life was claimed on February 13 at Maninagar with Shyamsundar Chapparwal, 60, losing his life after his leg was crushed by the Puri-Ajmer Express from which he tried to alight while the train was still in motion. This train, just like the Vadodara-Ahmedabad Shanti Express, which ferries most of the commuters from nearby cities does not have a stoppage point at Maninagar and halts only at Kalupur.Two passengers died at Ahmedabad railway station in similar circumstances and there wasn't any instance reported at Sabarmati railway station in 2018. However, there were seven more deaths at Ahmedabad station and one at Sabarmati after trains ran over those attempting to illegally cross the tracks, said RPF officials.Since only 62 of more than 120 trains that pass through Maninagar on a daily basis,have stoppages there, passengers tend to climb down these trains when they slow down or wait for the line to be cleared before going on to Kalupur station.Ease of commute by BRTSThere is a BRTS bus stand right outside Maninagar station and the traffic in that area is lesser than that in Kalupur. Passengers also told Mirror that by the time the train reaches Kalupur, they are already late for office.Kuldeep Sharma, a regular commuter for five years, said, "Hundreds of people get off moving trains at Maninagar because it is easier to use the BRTS from there. Kalupur, in comparison, is half a city away."It has been a long-standing demand of passengers that the Ahmedabad Division of Western Railways allow more trains to stop, even for a minute, at Maninagar. Even the Zonal Rail Users Consultation Committee (ZRUCC), that advises the Western Railways on problems faced by passengers in Gujarat, has made multiple representations on this issue, the last one being on February 11, two days before Chapparwal lost his life. Dinesh Kumar, DRM, A'bad Division, said, "Work on another track has been stopped indefinitely since January because of a tomb nearby. To access it, people have to cross the track that is being built. "

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