The Tiruvalla railway station, the lone one in Pathanamthitta district, is a poor cousin when compared to Chengannur, just 10 km away, while comparing the traffic of pilgrims during the Sabarimala season.
If Chengannur, which was announced as the gateway to Sabarimala in 2007 by the Railway Ministry, is in the thick of the action, Tiruvalla is almost deserted even after the commencement of the season.
Tiruvalla lies 99 km away from Pampa. A passenger from Ernakulam has to travel only half-an-hour to reach here. But, majority of them have no idea about Tiruvalla railway station and prefer Kottayam or Chengannur.
“It suits my pocket as I can easily take a bus to Pampa from Chengannur railway station.My friends and I prefer the place to reach Pampa. I had no confusion even during my first pilgrimage to Sabarimala in 2005,” said Ajay Ghosh, a pilgrim from Bengaluru who got down at Chengannur.
Experts blame the lack of support from the Railways for the plight of the station.
“The Railways does not provide proper information about the Tiruvalla station. Now they have announced that some trains will halt here till the end of the pilgrimage season. However, the timing is not suited as most of the pilgrims have already reserved their tickets to Kottayam or Chengannur,” said Mathew T Thomas, Tiruvalla MLA and former Transport Minister.
According to Anto Antony MP, the norms of the Railway Board do not allow some trains, including super-fast trains, to halt at Tiruvalla.
“Many trains do not stop within a gap of 60 km. Pilgrims prefer Chengannur to go to Pandalam, while others get down at Kottayam to go via Erumeli. In the last two decades, most of the pilgrims prefer Chengannur as it is easy for them to catch buses. Tiruvalla can also become a centre of Sabarimala pilgrimage with the help of the Ayyappa Seva Sangham and other organisations,” Antony said.
Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien had inaugurated a pilgrim’s centre on the premises of the Tiruvalla railway station two months ago. It was constructed with his MP’s fund. The centre provides the service of the police to pilgrims during the pilgrimage season.
Ayyappa Dharma Parishad and Ayyappa Seva Sangham jointly started an ‘Edathavalam’ (pilgrim rest house with food facility) near the private bus stand here on Friday.
Parishad patron K R Pratapachandra Varma said that the government has ignored the Tiruvalla station.
“So pilgrims have no confidence to alight here to travel to Pampa. The government should give information about the station in the official website,” he said.