In letter to authorities, Diva passengers have suggested stopping the halt of four locals at Dombivli station
Diva passengers are not able to board the fast locals as they come overcrowded from Dombivli. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
The halt of fast locals coming from far off stations like Asangaon, Karjat and Badlapur, at Dombivili, has been causing grief to passengers boarding the same trains from Diva.
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Recently, they sent a letter to the concerned authorities, asking them to avoid the halt of the fast local at Dombivli, as it tends to get overcrowded, leaving no room for Diva passengers to get in. Only last week, on December 18, the Central Railway authorities granted the halt of 24 fast locals at Diva. The move was made to ease the commuting woes of Diva passengers, but, now it looks like the strategy has backfired.
On December 21, Adesh Bhagat, president, Passenger Association, Diva, wrote a letter to the DRM, asking for some changes to be made. "We were happy that the authorities had introduced fast local halts at Diva, but on the very second day, every passenger noticed that things had hardly changed for them," Bhagat said.
The letter stated that among the 84 fast locals running on the central line, 24 locals, both to and fro, halt at Diva. "Most of the trains that halt at Diva come from Asangaon, Karjat, Kasara, Badlapur, Titwala and Kalyan, which are crowded already by the time they reach Dombivli. So, we have asked the authorities to stop the halt of four locals — the 6:55 am, 8:08 am, 9:09 am and 10:50 am — at Dombivli. Also, Dombivli has fast locals every 10 minutes, as compared to Diva that has them every one hour. The other option is to increase the frequency of fast locals halting at Dombivli, so that we have room to board them," Bhagat said, adding that the authorities are not willing to comply.
It was after ten years since the demand for halt at Diva was made, that the CR fulfilled it last week. However, it has all come to naught. Rekha Patil, a resident of Diva, said, "We were happy when the announcement of the Diva halt was made. But, when the train approached the platform, we saw that there was no space to get in."
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