NEW DELHI: Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Friday announced introduction of 26 new trains and five new suburban trains, extension of five existing trains and increase in frequency of two existing trains.
But many promises for the Southern Railways were not fulfilled. While with this announcement, 115 out of 132 proposed new trains during Railway Budget 2011-12 will be introduced, the frequency of 19 out of 22 trains will be increased and all the extension of trains proposed in Railway Budget 2011-12 will be implemented, the ministry spokesperson said.
Duronto trains between Madurai-Chennai and Chennai-Thiruvanthapuram that were notified in July 2011 after an announcement in last year’s budget by Mamata Banerjee, are yet to reflect on the timetable.
The Vivek Express that was announced to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda still remains unscheduled.
For instance, the Howrah-Mangalore Express via Palghat that was to run on a weekly basis is not yet operational and the Dwarka-Tuticorin Express which was to go via Wadi now goes through Madurai.
“The state of Kerala has many important cities, towns that remain disconnected even though the Rajya Rani Express that was introduced to connect state capital with other cities and towns was initiated last year,” a railway official from the Southern Zone said.
Most of the Express trains in Southern Railway have been introduced except for the Purulia-Villupuram Express via Kharagour and Vellore.
While Trivedi announced the introduction of MEMU services between Ernakulam and Kollam on Friday, the Kollam-Nagercoil service is yet to be announced.
“All the trains promised will be announced and functional by March 31,” a railway spokesperson said.