Aurangabad: In the wake of a spate of incidents of passenger trains running late, Vinod Kumar Yadav, the general manager of the South Central Railway (SCR) has asked the concerned authorities to ensure the punctuality of this category of trains.In the latest review meeting held with the Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) from Nanded and five other divisions through videoconferencing, Yadav stressed on the need for the timely running of express as well as passenger trains in order to improve the satisfaction level of passengers.As reported by TOI, some passenger trains either witnessed cancellation or had to be short-terminated due to the their respective pairing trains running late.Railway activist Omprakash Varma, who had raised the issue of passenger trains running late recently, has demanded stern action against those responsible for the late running of the trains in question. “Finally, the issue of passenger trains getting affected has received the attention of the top-brass. The railway authorities should not take people travelling via passenger trains for granted as they also pay their fare and are entitled to certain rights. Passenger trains are often used as a mode of communication by the needy and the poor and the concerned people face huge inconvenience if the passenger trains get affected,” he said.The aforesaid review meeting also saw an emphasis on freight loading. In a record increase in wagon utilization, the SCR has registered a 30% increase in average wagons loaded per day during October, as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The top-brass asked to further raise the benchmark with regard to freight loading, so as to increase the revenue of the zone, said the SCR authorities.“The review meeting also witnessed discussions and deliberations on safety measures that need to be taken for smooth train operations. Divisional authorities have been advised to keep a continuous focus on the improvement of the infrastructure facilities related to the safe running of trains, including yard remodelling and track renewal works along with station redevelopments works and construction of foot over bridges and high level platforms,” said Uma Shankar Kumar, the central public relations officer of the SCR.

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