POLL OF THE YEAR, 2018 : SWANKY NEW LHB VS THE GOOD ‘OL ICF ?
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While the country was fast progressing towards conversion of conventional blue coloured rolling stock to swanky looking LHB rakes, what has lately caught the attention of railfans across the nation in general and those hailing from north in particular is how ICF has reinvented itself as a noticeable competitor. This has led to a fierce debate across the nation on how plausible is the notion of recovery for a brand which was long assumed defunct. We tried...
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interviewing sections of people aboard a range of trains to get a sense of the public opinion.
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We started off on Salasar SF and the first few opinions as we reached Sadulpur were significantly against the trend of rampant LHBification, however as we approached Churu, the opinions were rather balanced inching towards a pro-LHB stance. The opinions further see-sawed dramatically across Ratangarh-Sujangarh but thereafter, all the way to the final destinations all that was to be heard were chants announcing the return of the good ‘ol blue era. We decided to proceed further north where the results were yet again mixed. “Anticipated failure of quite a few ridiculous strategies of LHB promotion, the route of Bikaner Bilaspur “LHB” Antyodaya for instance, has left enough food for thought on the table” said a traveller from Hanumangarh. What has surprised the railfan fraternity even further is how “Shri Ganganagar”, a name which rose to fame across the length of the country with the LHB revolution, totally bombed at the polls.
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While on one side, even rampant gauge conversion around Sikar could still not retain the faith of localites in the shade of red for their rolling stock, something they were so accustomed to, not very long ago, the effect on Dr. Ambedkar Nagar Mhow was quite the opposite. This was in addition to, and possibly a result of the fact that the neighbouring big towns on the lines of Indore, Ujjain, and Ratlam to a certain extent, held firm confidence in the LHB technology. With several regular and occasional special Rajdhanis ripping through these areas on a regular basis, this trend came as no surprise. A sense of connect for the LHB revolution also continued on the not-so-high-speed route of Udaipur-Ratlam where the entire section was unanimous in their opinion. However, a trip on the Gwalior – Sheopur passenger, as unanimously as the former, painted a different picture living true to their NG livery. This also led to mixed opinions in the residents of Gwalior while people of Dholpur were pretty supportive of the LHB stance, the reason being an open secret in the railfan fraternity.
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Meanwhile there were gestures of disappointment coming in from South Western Railways which had invested towards the LHB movement but were utterly despised by the revolt against it coming in from SECR. Jnaneshwari ‘s conversion and the much controversial Hasdeo Express couldn’t quite continue the trust of locals on what was assumed to be the next big technology in mobility. A large proportion of travellers have been vocal on their reasoning behind their choice. They argue that while the trend of LHBification solves the bottleneck of maximum permissible speed and added comfort, these problems are largely attributed to the well-off section of the society. Problems of link trains, dedicated coaches for the differently abled, a larger room for unreserved passengers et cetera can only be addressed with the ICF consist. The section of people who have voted their confidence back into the conventional rakes allege misplacement of priorities as a major reason behind the loss of charm for the LHB revolution.
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While these limited trends cannot be assumed as the voice against or in favour of the national LHB movement at large, what needs to be seen is that with the regained confidence, will the ICF be able to ramp up its production, upgrade its technology and hence live up to what has it been entrusted for in this nail-biting series of events.