THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Protest over the alleged neglect of the State in the Railway Budget marred the flagging off ceremony of two trains at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station on Sunday.
Union Minister of State for Railways R.Velu flagged off the Kochuveli-Dehradun (weekly) and Kochuveli-Yesvantpur Garib Rath (tri-weekly) superfast trains at the function.
Velu said that the Centre was not showing any discrimination to the State. Funds were allotted for the development of the Thiruvananthapuram Central and Kochuveli stations, new trains were sanctioned for the State over the years and a wagon factory is being set up in the State, he pointed out.
Law Minister M. Vijayakumar who spoke on the occasion said that the State did not receive due consideration in the Railway Budget. He said the State Government had already taken up the matter with the Centre.
MPs Panniyan Raveendran and Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, MLAs V.Sivankutty and V. Surendran Pillai, and Mayor C. Jayan Babu also made use of the occasion to voice their disappointment over the alleged discrimination towards the State in the Budget.
The Kochuveli-Dehradun weekly train will depart from here on Fridays at 8.50 a.m. and reach Dehradun on Sundays at 6.05 p.m. In the return leg, the train would start from Dehradun on Mondays at 6 a.m. and arrive at Kochuveli on Wednesdays.
The Kochuveli-Yesvantpur Garib Rath super-fast express would leave from here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It would reach Yesvantpur in Bengaluru by 11.30 p.m., the next day.
In the return leg, the train would leave from Yesvantpur on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 9 p.m.
PROTEST MARCH
Protesting against the alleged discrimination towards the State in the Railway Budget, the DYFI and the Forward Bloc activists took out protest marches to the Central station during the flagging off function.
The police prevented the marchers from entering the station. The marchers later dispersed.