The reduction in the train stoppages led to a widespread violence, protests and burning of public property. This made me question that if the public would be subjected to such widespread inconvenience then why the rail ministry deleted those stoppages.
I talked to an ex DRM (Divisional Railway Manager), his answer was:
A typical passenger train with 24 bogies services about 2000 passengers per trip (one side). If on an average if less than 10 passengers board/depart from a station then it is eligible for removal. Logic is simple if less than 10/2000 = 0.5% of the general public use a stop, then it is not economical to service it. Even the busses won’t ply for 10 persons then why should railways run a whole train for them.
Not only does less braking reduce the cost of running a train, it also increases the speed of the train. So it is in best interest of the public and the nation.
Similarly recently the assassination of Sant Niranjan Dass in Vienna led to widespread violence in Amritsar. (I am not trying to be disrespectful to him, not I condone the killing) However one aspect of the protest felt very odd. Although he was a Guru (religious leader) of the sikh community, none of the video footage or pictures of the protest demonstrations had people wearing turbans. This is very odd because Sikhs esp. the religious ones are supposed to have long hair and wear a turban at all times.
Somehow I am convinced that all these protests are stages. People are simply trying to extract political mileage.
