KOCHI: A lot of Express, Fast and Superfast trains are run by the Railways in the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisions. However, the manner in which they are run prevent the passengers from gleaning the benefits.
One of the most common complaints made by passengers is the lack of halts in the majority of the stations, especially those that generate a lot of revenue. According to the Tripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents' Associations (TRURA), not providing halts to all express trains at the station is an injustice.
"The latest Express train to not have a stop at Tripunithura is 06015 Ernakulam Jn-Velankanni Express train. The train, which was launched recently, starts from Ernakulam Jn and then rushes past nearly all intermediate stations to stop at Kottayam," said V C Jayendran, convenor, TRURA.
We have been making a lot of representations not only to the Railway authorities but also the people's representatives, he said.
However, all that have not yielded any results, he added. "To get a halt for the train at Tripunithura, we approached K V Thomas who represented Ernakulam constituency and also Jose K Mani. But, there was no effect and the situation is still the same. We even sent letters to Alphons Kannanthanam. Nothing happened," he said.
According to him, Tripunithura Railway Station generates the most revenue from among the stations located between Ernakulam and Kottayam.
"The station generates revenue of Rs 1,01,55,222 every month. We obtained the information under the RTI Act. The number of passengers who travelled from the station in 2018 was 94,675," he said.
This is a busy station, but it is being denied halts because it is just nine km away from Ernakulam Jn, he added.
However, it can be seen that the same rule doesn't apply to the stations in Alappuzha district when it comes to allotting halts, he said. "
Thanks to Kodikunnil Suresh's efforts, 34 trains have halt at Mavelikara and Kayamkulam. It has come to the notice that Mavelikara station generates only Rs 67,76,494 in revenue and saw passenger traffic of 75,968. But both Mavelikara and Kayamkulam have been categorised as NSG5," he said.