On Friday, there were smiles on the faces of commuters who effortlessly strode to the cab kiosk, booked and zoomed away.
Yes, Nagpur’s nightmare is over.And this was possible after TOI’s relentless campaign to bring cabs to the railway station in face of a violent opposition from the auto mafia, bureaucratic red tape and a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between the railways and cab aggregator. Many railway officers on Friday overtly lauded TOI’s exemplary effort.
An elated Raj Pugaliya, a seed and fertilizer businessman, who took the OV cab ride to his Mankapur home from the railway station’s ‘pickup-and-go zone’ adjoining Platform No. 1, said he reached home in just 9 minutes. The cab aggregator service, discontinued in September 2021, was resumed on Thursday.
With temperatures on the rise in Nagpur, TOI spotted several curious commuters trying to reach the Central Railway Nagpur division’s new passenger facility near the escalator to enquire on whether cabs could be booked from the pickup-and-drop zone. Dodging illegal autorickshaw drivers trying to block their way, many could reach the kiosk, download the OV app and zip out in cabs.
Like Pugaliya, NGO sector worker Aparna Campbell too was all praise for the cab services’ pickup-and-go facility after reaching her residence at Manish Nagar in barely 10 minutes from the Nagpur railway station. “Those at the pickup-and-go zone were cooperative and helped me book a cab. The driver was cordial too and issued a bill. This service is safe for women,” said Aparna, who reached Nagpur with a colleague from Bhopal by Vande Bharat Express.
“Earlier, it would be a hassle to walk all the way out of the station through traffic bottlenecks to board a cab,” she said, adding the fare was justifiable and reasonable. “My friend had informed me after reading TOI that the service had started,” said Aparna.
Pugaliya, who reached Nagpur station by Superfast Humsafar Express from Pune, was surrounded by illegal auto-rickshaw drivers the moment he stepped out. Harassed by the relentless soliciting, Pugaliya walked towards the exit gate when he spotted the ‘pickup-and-go zone’ kiosk, only to be greeted by the cab aggregator, who helped him download OV cab app from playstore and book him a cab to Mankapur. “The pickup-and-go service was the need of the hour. Earlier, it used to be a harrowing experience with auto-rickshaw drivers chasing me and even charging an exorbitant fare for a small ride,” said Pugaliya.
Deepak Sane, a member of the Vidarbha App-based Cab and Taxi Union, stated some commuters sought help in downloading the app, while others requested them to book a cab.
“Considering the service is yet to be popularized, we got a motivating response. The number of walk-ins were surprisingly high,” said Sane, who was assisted by associate Rameshwar Sahu. “We have put up signage to guide commuters,” said Sane.
Senior divisional commercial manager Aman Mittal stated that OV has come forward, but efforts are being made to reach out to other cab services too. “The contract-holder too is pursuing other players,” he said, adding divisional railway manager Manish Agarwal is keen to bring more passenger facilities in coming days. Chief commercial inspector Taraprasad Acharya, passenger amenity supervisor Atul Shrivastava and others visited the kiosk.
Senior traffic inspector, Sitabuldi division, Santosh Bakal, too visited the pickup-and-go zone for inspection. He had also instructed auto-rickshaw drivers not to clog the exit gate. In the past, police had to intervene due to violent resistance from auto-rickshaw drivers and also initiate action against errant ones.