Rajkot: Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) vice-president and Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) member Parth Ganatra raised several demands related to railway services for Rajkot and the Saurashtra region at Western Railway’s ZRUCC meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday.In a representation to Western Railway general manager Pradeep Kumar, the chamber sought restoration of the Saurashtra Mail’s original 6.30pm departure time, stating that the earlier schedule had operated smoothly without maintenance block disruptions. The issue has been raised earlier with the Rajkot division, the RCCI said.Ganatra also sought implementation of the proposed extension of six trains from Ahmedabad to Rajkot, announced earlier by former Railway Minister Darshana Jardosh. These include the Ahmedabad-Patna Express, Ahmedabad-Prayagraj Express, Ahmedabad-Kolkata Express, Ahmedabad-Kolhapur Express, Ahmedabad-Nagpur Express and the Ahmedabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express. He also urged authorities to expedite the extension of the Ahmedabad-Pune Duronto Express to Rajkot.The chamber further proposed increasing the frequency of the Uttaranchal Express (Rajkot–Haridwar) from once a week to three times a week to cater to growing passenger and religious travel demand. It also sought extension of the Haridwar Mail to Rajkot and introduction of a Vande Bharat sleeper service on the Rajkot–Mumbai route.In addition, Ganatra requested a halt at Borivali for the Mumbai Central-Hapa Duronto Express.
