Imagine, a passenger intending to board a train from Nagpur Railway Station, who leaves the home well before time, expecting the biggest challenge would be to find the right platform and board the train easily. Instead, the passenger finds himself in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic outside Nagpur Railway Station. The train departs on time. But the passenger misses the train. Months later, another passenger arrives at the redeveloping Nagpur Railway Station. The station has everything it promised to be, spacious, modern and comparable with the best in the country. But the moment he steps outside, he is greeted by honking vehicles, illegally parked auto-rickshaws, roadside encroachments and crawling traffic.

 

The reputation of the upcoming world-class railway station gets tarnished within minutes. This is the contradiction the city seems to be heading towards. The Government is investing nearly Rs 490 crore to transform Nagpur Railway Station into a modern transport hub. But the question remains whether Nagpur city is upgrading its road infrastructure, especially the network around the railway station, with the same seriousness? The western entrance through Tekadi Road is perhaps the biggest example of traffic congestion. The flyover was demolished to improve traffic movement, but as of today contrary to what was projected, the reverse is happening. Reaching to station circualting area is a taxing exepriece as entire road is besiged by private buses parked, waywardly parked e-rickshaws, autos and what not. To add to the mess, the reamaining part of the road witnesses choatic traffic. So, the fruits of a plush modern railway station is going to be limited to its premises, as outside, the choas has only worsened. What should be available as a wide road often functions like a narrow alley.

 

“No matter how early I leave home, I still worry about missing my train because of the traffic chaos outside the station. The congestion near Tekadi has become completely unpredictable,” said Rakesh Gupta, a frequent rail traveller. The problem does not end there. Buses entering and leaving the Madhya Pradesh bus terminal affect the traffic further, particularly during evening hours. Vehicles parked outside Tekadi Ganesh Temple add to the chaos. Although the temple management has arranged parking inside a nearby school campus, many motorists still prefer to leave their vehicles by the roadside near the temple. The Eastern side of the station tells a similar story. Auto-rickshaws line-up outside the entrance, private vehicles stop in the middle of the road to pick up and drop passengers, while the incomplete road towards Kadbi Square continues to choke traffic. Heavy trucks heading towards Santra Market only make matters worse.

 

The congestion spreads well beyond the station area. Cotton Market Square, Manas Square and Kingsway regularly witness long queues because of the traffic generated by the railway station. The Hitavada, recently, highlighted the persistent congestion between Kingsway Hospital and the Tekadi T-point, where commuters continue to lose precious time every day. Need for world class acess: Nagpur certainly deserves a world-class railway station. But it deserves world-class access to it as well. Otherwise, the first and the last impression that travellers carry from the city will not be the station itself. It will be the traffic waiting outside it.