The Western Railway on Monday announced that three pairs of trains, one each to Agra Cantonment, Gwalior and Muzaffarpur, will now depart from and arrive at Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad rather than Kalupur Station.
The shifting of trains is in line with the zonal and national vision to make Sabarmati railway station fully capable to handle all north-bound trains from central Gujarat.
On Monday, a statement said that July 11 onwards, the Ahmedabad-Agra Cantonment Express will run from Sabarmati railway station.
Similarly, the Ahmedabad -Gwalior Express and Ahmedabad -Muzaffarpur Jansadharan Express will originate and end at Sabarmati railway station, avoiding Kalupur completely.
Sources said this attempt has been several years in the making to declutter the Kalupur railway station whose south-bound trains face inordinate delays outside the city waiting for other trains to leave the station before reaching Kalupur, which is situated in the heart of the city.
With the addition of these three trains, nine trains now originate from Sabarmati.
Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ahmedabad Division Tarun Jain said, “The redevelopment of Sabarmati railway station is on a large scale and will include separate entry and exits, waiting lounges, retail shops and other such amenities. Planning is being done to expand the station and thus reduce congestion for expected rise in passengers in the coming days.”
Jain said, “Since a large number of north-bound passengers along with even a large number of Rajdhani passengers, which has a stop there, choosing to alight at Sabarmati, more trains are likely to be moved from Kalupur to Sabarmati in the future.”