KOCHI: With the seemingly perennial road work making travel along national highways a miserable experience in the state, people are increasingly switching to trains. But if the demand and supply ratio is anything to go by, the trains, especially those that conduct services within the state, are proving insufficient. And hence, passenger associations are demanding additional MEMU services.
“In the evenings, there is an unusual rush from Ernakulam and Kottayam stations to Kollam. The long gap after Parasuram Express passes in the afternoon adds to the rush. With the Kochi Metro terminal in Tripunithura becoming operational, passengers have completely abandoned private vehicles and are depending on trains, which has increased rail travel woes,” Ajaz Vadakedam, a member of Friends On Rails, told TNIE.
The situation is such that people are now travelling in packed coaches or hanging on for dear lives on footboards, or standing in toilet corridors holding their breath, he pointed out. Students and employees of MG University, Brilliant College, Medical College, and other educational institutions travelling towards Kollam are greeted with the sight of packed trains arriving at the Kottayam station, Ajaz said. “Although there has been a huge increase in the number of rail passengers, and revenue, over the past few years, there has been no significant improvement in the number of services for regular passengers. The congestion reaches its peak at Changanassery in the evening,” he said.
If this has become a regular affair on the Ernakulam-Kollam stretch under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division, things have taken a turn for the worse on the Ernakulam-Thrissur route ever since work began on NH 544 and NH 66.
“Road traffic was disrupted because of the construction and maintenance work on national and state highways and other major roads. Hence, many people who travelled by road are now relying on trains, turning short-distance journeys miserable, especially in the morning and evening peak hours.
Things worsen on Fridays and Saturdays when people working in Ernakulam or Thrissur travel in either direction to return home for the weekend,” said P Krishnakumar, general secretary of the Thrissur Railway Passengers’ Association (TRPA).
“Trains are so crowded that it reminds us of the wagon tragedy. Women, children, and senior citizens find travelling on these packed trains tough. Even after buying tickets, they are often unable to board the train,” he pointed out.
Instead of increasing the number of coaches on trains, the Railways have been doing the opposite, he alleged.
“Though the number of coaches on the evening Ernakulam-Shoranur MEMU (66320) has been increased to 16, there are often only 12 coaches on Fridays and Saturdays. The number of passengers has increased as this train later runs from Shoranur to Nilambur. Similarly, the Ernakulam-Palakkad MEMU (66610) has only eight coaches. The 16307 Alappuzha-Kannur Express is also crowded,” Krishnakumar said.
Considering the current situation in Kerala, all passenger/MEMU trains should be converted to MEMU trains with at least 16 coaches, he said. “They should run every day of the week and the necessary MEMU coaches should be immediately allocated to the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisions,” Krishnakumar said.
Friends on Rails have demanded that the MEMU which operated from Ernakulam Junction to Kollam, at 2.45 pm, before the Covid pandemic be resumed. “It has become a daily occurence for passengers to ditch their travel plans at the last moment after seeing the crowded coaches.
The lack of a daily service from Kollam to Ernakulam for more than three hours after 8 am is also causing great distress to passengers. If the MEMU/passenger departing from Kollam at 10 am is arranged in such a way that it reaches Ernakulam at 1.30 pm and leaves after 2.45 or 3 pm, the travel hassle in both directions can be solved to a great extent,” Ajas said. Train journeys from Ernakulam in the evening have turned very dangerous, he said.
TRPA has also submitted a representation to Union Minister and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, seeking his intervention in matter.