Caught in jam in Ahmedabad? Blame it on intercity!

AHMEDABAD: The western railway introduced its first daily superfast intercity express between Bhavnagar and Sabarmati stations on Sunday. The train, which will pass through the city on the track running parallel to Ashram Road, is set to derail schedules of road users in western parts of the city such as Navrangpura, Usmanpura and Naranpura, among others.
The train will leave Bhavnagar at 6am and reach Sabarmati at 10.30am daily. It will then depart from Sabarmati at 4pm and reach Bhavnagar at 8.30pm every day.
Officials said that daily between 9.50am and 10.30am, at least six crossings between Gandhigram and Sabarmati, would be affected. In Bhavnagar, there would be similar scenes of traffic snarls between 8pm and 8.30pm.
The train will take Gandhigram-Vastrapur-Sarkhej route from the city. The railway line cuts through the city’s west as it connects the Ahmedabad-Bhavnagar sector.
The new broad gauge was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June from Vadodara. A passenger train was then started from the city but the railways, looking at the passenger traffic, started the train from Gandhigram instead of Sabarmati.
The intercity will be further connected to the Ahmedabad-Yog Nagari Rishikesh train that heads to Uttarakhand from Sabarmati station. Railway officials said that the AMC has not made any provision of underpasses or overbridges to mitigate the effects of the new track.
Thus, traffic snarls are expected at the crossroads such as those near the Navrangpura police station, Sanghvi High School and Vijaynagar. The new Ahmedabad-Botad line passes through Naranpura, Navrangpura, Paldi, and Sarkhej.
A senior officer on the traffic consultative committee said there are 10 major crossings between Sabarmati junction and Sarkhej. The officer said traffic jams are likely at these spots. Before beginning work on the line in 2018-19, the railways had warned the AMC and had asked them to plan underpasses or overbridges to deal with the anticipated traffic problems.
A senior railway official said at least five mail and express trains (up and down) and an equal number of goods trains are likely to pass through the city using the new track. This will mean level crossings will be closed 20 times, for about 10 minutes each time.
“There could be more traffic jams than before at railway crossings in the city,” he said.
In all, there are 32 level crossings, big and small, on the Ahmedabad-Sarkhej route with no fewer than 16 between Sabarmati and Gandhigram railway stations,” the officer said.
Jhalak Shah, whose office is in Navrangpura, said, “The roads from Mithakhali and Navrangpura bus stand form a Y-junction at the level crossing. There is going to be a massive traffic bottleneck.”
Ankit Patel, who frequently uses this stretch, said, “A one-way road on this section may ease jams.”