Mathura / Vrindavan, 2015.12.27 (VT): 
Amid the discontent among the Vrindavan residents against the Railways department for not operating the Rail bus between Mathura and Vrindavan, there is good news which both the residents and the visitors can rejoice about. A heritage train will soon run between Mathura and Vrindavan. If the sources linked with Smt. Hema Malini are to be believed, the present rail bus service will be upgraded into a three compartment heritage train. It will again be named as Radha Rani Express. Before, the only train service between Mathura and Vrindavan was the rail bus (one bogey train including the engine), which began operating in 1998-99, as a result of financial loss to run the erstwhile eight compartment Radharani Express.
The Radha Rani Express or the rail bus allowed cheap and quick travel between Mathura and Vrindavan. It was a convenient mode of transportation for the poor pilgrims and the sadhus to travel to Vrindavan from the distant places of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and other locations of the country. The Rail bus has remained halted since the past six months due to alleged technical issues. This has caused untold miseries for the daily commuters and pilgrims who have been compelled to commute by more expensive buses and the tempos, thus also getting stuck for hours in traffic jams and foggy roads during winter. The last time the Railbus ran, it stopped midway and had to be pushed to the station. When inquired about the resumption of the service, the area Chief M.P. Singh didn’t respond positively.
The Radha Rani Expressed served the commuters for four decades, which was introduced during the British Rule in India. The railway track between Mathura and Vrindavan was laid to transport the stones to build the Radha Madhav Mandir (Jaipur Mandir). After the building of the temple was accomplished the British Government decided to run a train between the two stations of Mathura and Vrindavan. The train was named as the Radha Rani express. The steam engine train was a blessing for thousands of daily commuters, saints, pilgrims and tourists till the end of the twentieth century.
During her recent visit to Mathura, Mrs. Hema Malini, the Member of Parliament from Mathura informed the media that she would make a proposal for the Ministry of Railways to run a Heritage Train on this 15 km railway track. She will soon meet Shri Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister for Railways and the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to pursue her plan to transform the rail bus service into a heritage train.
She advocated developing the landscape in both sides of the railway track according to the ancient ethos of Vraja, which includes planting the typical Vraja trees, images of the pastimes of Shri Krishna and recitation of bhajan through the audio. The heritage train should be designed in a way that the people travelling in it may have a feeling that they are going to VrindavanThe train will stop near the approach roads leading to the major temples of Mathura and Vrindavan. The heritage train will be proved as a milestone for the promotion of the religious tourism.
Better parking facilities for the vehicles at the Railway Station will also be proposed in the plan. The fare of the train will be cheaper than the other mode of conveyance between Mathura and Vrindavan.
According to the Vrindavan station master Pavan Kumar, the proposal to change the 15 km line was made in 2013, and they received permission to begin work at the end of 2014. In the work that lasted eight months, the tracks and bogies were changed with an expenditure of 10 crores. After this, the Rail bus operated just twice before being halted. Pavan Kumar said that the Railway authorities have nto shown any interest in resuming services or mad any plans. Many projects for the development of Vrindavan have been initiated since then, but the rail bus project could not feature among them. Due to this, after 15 years of operation, the Railbus has been shut down for want of better facilities and care. However, Pavan Kumar said that work on the Rail bus will soon be on its way.
According to the reliable sources, the MVDA and the railway authorities will make a joint inspection of the route to understand the technicalities involved in the proposal. The encroachments both sides of the track has to be removed before the execution of this plan.
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