Mumbai commuters boycott local suburban trains

Hundreds of commuters today decided not to travel on the suburban line of the Western Railways, demanding an increase in the frequency of trains, especially on a particular route.

Mumbai, Dec 10 : Hundreds of commuters today decided not to travel on the suburban line of the Western Railways, demanding an increase in the frequency of trains, especially on a particular route.

Their demand is for more locals on the Borivali-Virar line as a million commuters use this route to get to their work places.

The boycott is being held under the banner of 'Pravasi Adhikar Aandolan Samiti' (PAAS), a commuters association, between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Of the total 1,036 daily services, only 226 services operate on the Borivli-Virar sector though the population of this area has tripled in the past decade.

Shailendra Kamble, convenor of the PAAS said that the protest would be non-violent.

Tight security arrangements have been made at all stations between Mira Road and Virar to avoid any kind of untoward incident.

At the inaugural of the quadrupling of the Borivli-Virar section on June 30, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had said that 157 new imported rakes (trains) would be introduced on the suburban section by November.

According to sources, only three rakes have come and one has been deployed so far.

ANI