Timings of heritage narrow gauge train services restored

Surat: Hundreds of tribals commuting from interior villages in Dang district to Navsari and Billimora heaved a sigh of relief with Western Railway (WR) restoring the timings of two trains that run on heritage Billimora-Waghai narrow gauge line from Monday.
Following TOI report highlighting the plight of tribal passengers, especially students studying in various colleges in Navsari and Surat in November 2017 and strong follow-up by member of passenger service committee (PSC) Rakesh Shah with the railway ministry, the WR authorities restored the two narrow gauge trains’ timings which were earlier reserved.

As per the decision taken by the Western Railway (WR) authorities, the Billimora-Waghai train will depart from Billimora at 10 am to reach Waghai station at 2 pm and in the evening the train will depart from Billimora at 7.30 pm to reach Waghai at 11.30 pm. Similarly, the train will depart from Waghai at 2.30 pm to reach Billimora at 6.30 pm and another train will depart from Waghai at 5 am to reach Billimora at 9 am.

Last year, the WR’s Mumbai division decided to stop the heritage train services between Billimora and Waghai after the train met with an accident on August 23, 2017. The train’s engine had derailed in the dense forest during its onward journey from Billimora to Waghai.

A strong demand was made by the member of PSC to the WR to restart the heritage narrow gauge train services between Billimora and Waghai with immediate effect.

The Billimora-Waghai narrow gauge train is of immense value to the tribal people in Dang and students who travel from Waghai to Billimora on a daily basis. The students from Dang travel further to Surat, Vapi, Navsari and Valsad for studying.