Santragachi. The name is now quite familiar to many railway passengers. Santragachi is now popular as one of the most important stations under the South Eastern Railway.
It is located just seven kilometres away from one of the country’s largest railway stations — Howrah. If you are travelling to Kolkata by train from big cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, or Chennai, you’ll have to pass through Santragachi station.
Yet, most passengers complain that travelling through this station on the Southeastern route has become an exacerbating issue.
Few examples make the issue clearer
The Gitanjali Express from Mumbai to Howrah crosses three states and reaches Santragachi at 11:48 a.m. the next day from the scheduled time. According to the railway timetable, it reached Howrah at 1:50 p.m. That means it takes over two hours to cover just seven kilometres.
Similarly, the Samjhauta Express from Mumbai is supposed to reach Santragachi at 6:28 a.m. the next day. But according to the railway timetable, the train reaches Shalimar station, which is only five kilometres away, at 7:45 a.m. That means it takes over an hour to cover five kilometres.
In the same way, the Coromandel Express from Chennai reaches Howrah 55 minutes after arriving at Santragachi (as per the railway timetable).
The Falaknuma Express from Hyderabad also reaches Howrah 1 hour 20 minutes after arriving at Santragachi at 4:05 p.m.
According to the railway timetable, even premium trains like the Duronto Express are allotted just 10 minutes to cover the seven-kilometre stretch. However, passengers complain that even the Mumbai–Howrah Duronto Express often takes two to two-and-a-half hours to travel from Santragachi to Howrah. Meanwhile, the Pune Humsafar Express is frequently delayed by 10–15 hours before it even reaches Santragachi.
Many passengers allege that, for reasons unknown, even premium trains are entering Howrah 10 to 15 hours late, and sometimes even 18 hours late. This harassment has been continuing for years.
A businessman who often travels between Chennai and Mumbai for work shared his experience, “It’s not just that trains take unusually long to reach Howrah, because of these delays, the departure times of express and premium trains from Howrah are also pushed back by several hours. As a result, passengers paying full fares have been suffering for years.”
Jadunath Biswas, a resident of Nakashipara in Nadia, works as a confectioner at a sweet shop in Pune. He shared his bitter experience of travelling by Humsafar Express, “I’ve stopped travelling by train for the past three years,” he said.“The hassle of reaching Pune 5 to 15 hours late from Howrah or Santragachi was unbearable.” However, this time he had to return to Pune on short notice, and since airfares were abnormally high, he was forced to travel by train again.
