MANGALURU: In a possible last roll of the dice, train activists in this part have launched an online campaign against the touted Zero Based Time Table (ZBTT) of Indian Railways (IR). With the campaign – Dear PM, Save Indian Railways and its stations from disaster called zero based time table – the activists hope that Railways will reconsider its decision to rationalise the time table which, inter-alia, includes scheduling of trains based on scientific principle.
Train activist Gautham Shetty, who has mooted this campaign told TOI that IR in a bid to rationalise train operations is shifting the goal post to suit its ZBTT theory. “India has diverse commuting needs and passenger trains form backbone of this need. With ZBTT, IR is looking to convert them in to express trains, eliminate intermediate halt stations ostensibly to promote faster movement of trains along the golden quadrilateral route,” he said.
Incidentally, the minister of railways Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on September 16 said ZBTT will ensure adequate corridor blocks for maintenance, increase throughput by providing freight corridors, improve punctuality and utilization of rolling stock and also provide convenient and efficient services to the passengers. On the contrary, ZBTT will defeat all these stated objectives, Gautham notes.
ZBTT will in a way free IR from its social obligation of running trains. Passenger trains will be sacrificed at the altar of profit, Gautham said. “It is my gut feeling that the freed up track will be handed over to private players to operate their services,” the activist said. When trains fall into the express category, fares will rise. It will also force commuters to go to the nearest district or taluk headquarters to board a train to their respective destination, he said.
Rationalization of stoppages and trains taking into account demand, utility for passengers and commercial viability which Goyal said in the statement is a reflection of catering the needs of corporate clientele who prefer to reach their destination in the shortest possible time, he said. Ruing the silence of the opposition parties to this issue, Gautham said the ZBTT appears to be handiwork of railway board officials bypassing the elected representatives.