Four loss-making Railway halt stations of Ahmedabad division to be closed

Ahmedabad, 21 July, 2014

Western Railway today made an announcement on permanent closure of four halt stations of Ahmedabad Division from July 23, 2014 due to non profitability.

“The four halt stations of Western Railway Ahmedabad Division will be closed from 23 July, 2014 due to non profitability,” a statement said.

“As above, Kali Road on Ahmedabad-Mehsana Section, Chhatral and Ankhol on Kalol-Chanasma-Ranuj Section and Bheshana Mankanaj on Meshana-Viramgam Section, the passenger trains on above stations will not halt as passenger commuting is stopped,” it further said.

The Railway Minister had in his budget speech said:

1. Ever since assuming office, I have received innumerable requests for continuance of experimental stoppages from Hon’ble Members of Parliament and various public representatives. I understand that large number of stoppages have been provided on experimental basis over a period of time. While I appreciate the wish of everyone wanting a stoppage close to their place of work or residence, there is a cost to the system for each stoppage. Also too many stoppages result in slowing down of trains and increase the travel time particularly for long distance passengers. If this trend continues, most of our express trains will become passenger trains.

2. I would like to inform the House that I have allowed continuation of these experimental stoppages for a further period of 3 months, that is up to 30th of September 2014. These stoppages will be reviewed solely on the basis of operational feasibility and commercial justification. Demand for new stoppages hereafter will also be considered on the same criteria. We will try to provide alternate train connectivity to meet genuine demands of the public.

A recent report in Indian Express revealed:

A long list of additional train stoppages, mostly cleared after pressure from local MPs, costs the Railways department about Rs 1 crore daily. Now, the cash-strapped ministry has decided to scrap as many as 1,250 such stoppages across the country. An internal costing exercise done as part of the Rail Budget found that each additional stop was costing the Railways about Rs 8,000 on account of fuel and other operational expenses. On the other hand, the Railways was earning less than Rs 500 per stoppage. The net revenue loss per year was estimated to add up to a whopping Rs 300 crore. The ministry’s bookkeepers unofficially refer to these stoppages as “silent killers”. Trains linking Bihar and Kerala are among those which have the highest number of such stoppages. Of the total 2,400 such stoppages, 1,250 have been listed as commercially “unwanted and unaffordable”.