KOCHI: Even as more and more people depend on trains to commute between districts to reach their places of work, the shoddy manner in which the Railways are maintaining the timings has put the passengers in a tight spot. Though the time taken by trains to traverse the distance between Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station and Ernakulam has reduced considerably after the doubling of the line, the habit of the Railways to hold them at the marshalling yard (outer of Ernakulam Junction) for more than 30 minutes has made the entire exercise a failure.
“It is not just one train that is affected,” said Liyons J of Friends On Rails (FoR), a WhatsApp network of train commuters. Nearly all trains coming to Ernakulam from the Thiruvananthapuram side make an unscheduled halt near the marshalling yard for more than 30 minutes, he said. Citing the example of the Kayamkulam-Ernakulam MEMU, Ramesh Mathew, a passenger said, “Just look at the irony! The running time of the MEMU from Kottayam to Ernakulam marshalling yard (55 Km) is 50 minutes. However, do you know the time that the train takes to reach Ernakulam Junction from the marshalling yard? It’s 55 minutes!!”
“This has been happening for quite some time,” said Ajas Vadakedam, FoR executive member. “The general assessment is that the MEMU service is a boon on many routes. For instance, Kayamkulam service from Ernakulam Junction via Kottayam at 8.45 AM. Morning service from Kollam to Ernakulam Junction using the same rake on the same route. That is a blessing. But when the same rake (16310) runs from Kayamkulam to Ernakulam Junction at 3 PM, it takes only 50 minutes to reach the C-Cabin near the marshalling yard from Kottayam. The train is held there for at least 50 minutes almost every day. The same situation has continued since the inception of this service,” said Ramesh.
According to him, in short, the private bus from Kottayam via Medical College to Ernakulam and this train take almost the same time to complete the journey. Then there is the issue of the lack of stops. Ajesh said,
“The train, after leaving Kottayam, has only one stop and that too at Piravom. After Piravom, the next stop is the marshalling yard. If the train is given a stop at Tripunithura, then many would have benefitted. With the coming of the Tripunithura Metro station, people wouldn’t have to sit waiting inside the train at the marshalling yard. They could get down at Trupunithura and use the metro service to travel to their destinations in the city.”
“It will be a one-stop facility for many people who have to go to Vyttila, Aroor, Kakkanad and Puthencruz,” he said. This is just the case of one train. Many other trains, even the express trains like Venad, Palaruvi and Parasuram, halt at the marshalling yard. “And the excuse that the Railways give is that the halt is the buffer time of the trains. According to them, the trains make the deadline perfectly,” said Ajas.
Meanwhile, according to the Railways spokesperson, this happens due to a shortage of platforms or when cropping takes place. “Otherwise, the Railways make sure that the trains run on time,” said the spokesperson.
Pax-proposed solutions