COIMBATORE: Following the railway's decision to bring the Palakkad railway division under the South Western Railway by merging it with the Mysuru division, train enthusiasts have renewed their long-pending demand to shift Kinathukkadavu and Pollachi railway stations from the Palakkad division to either a proposed Coimbatore railway division or the Salem/Madurai division.
They alleged that despite the two stations remaining under the Palakkad division for several years, there had been limited development in railway infrastructure and services. They urged the railway ministry to consider a change in jurisdiction to improve connectivity and facilitate the introduction of more trains.
J Sathish, convenor of the Coimbatore NXT Railway Task Force, questioned the delay in making Coimbatore a railway division headquarters despite the station being one of the highest revenue-generating stations under Southern Railway.
"While the top revenue-generating railway stations under Southern Railway have divisions headquartered at their respective places, why not Coimbatore, which is the third-highest revenue-generating station? If Coimbatore is made a division headquarters by bringing Kinathukkadavu and Pollachi under the proposed division from the Palakkad division, revenue would increase substantially. Passengers would also benefit from the introduction of new and connecting trains," Sathish said.
K Shivamohan, a Kinathukkadavu-based railway enthusiast and secretary of the Welfare Association of Rail Passengers, Coimbatore-Pollachi-Palani-Dindigul, also sought a change in the existing jurisdiction. However, he favoured bringing Kinathukkadavu and Pollachi under either the Salem or Madurai railway division rather than the proposed Coimbatore division.
"At present, the Podanur-Kinathukkadavu-Pollachi-Palani sections fall under three different railway divisions — Salem, Palakkad and Madurai. This fragmented jurisdiction makes it difficult to obtain approvals for new and connecting train services," Shivamohan said.
Meanwhile, in a recent letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Pollachi MP K Eswarasamy said residents of Kinathukkadavu and Pollachi had been demanding for several years that the region be separated from the Palakkad division and brought under the Madurai division.
N Subramanian, general secretary of the Podanur Train Users Association, also favoured bringing the Kinathukkadavu-Pollachi section under the Madurai railway division.