The Tirupur railway station contributes more revenue to the railway exchequer than Salem and Erode stations from the passenger services but the station is not a preferred list when it comes to allotting stops for many key trains vis-a-vis the other stations.
As many as seven pairs (i.e. up and down) of key long distance trains are at present skipping Tirupur station despite the contributions of higher revenue and the fact that Tirupur is an industrial hub holding large population of migrant workers from upcountry locations.
The official reply to the queries posed by G. Subawarana Kohilan, a rail activist, reveals that the passenger traffic earnings from Tirupur railway station for the 2016-17 financial year stood at ₹ 45.76 crore. This was more than Salem and Erode stations which generated only ₹ 36.41 crore and ₹ 40.61 crore during the same period despite these stations had stops for more numbers of trains than Tirupur.
Based on the statistics, Mr. Kohilan had directly taken the issue to the notice of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu through electronic mail reiterating the need to stop those seven trains too in Tirupur.
“A short stoppage will benefit railways too as it could push the overall revenues further up. Besides, the migrant labourers in Tirupur cluster from other states, who now constitute nearly 40 per cent of the workforce, will get better connectivity”, Mr. Kohilan told The Hindu .
He pointed out that the seven pair of trains that skip Tirupur were Ernakulam-Howrah Antyodaya Express (train nos- 22877/22878), Ernakulam-Hatia Express (22837/22838); Nagercoil- Kolkata Shalimar Express (12660/12659), Kochuveli-Yesvanthpur Express (12258/12257) and three different Chennai-Thiruvannathapuram trains (12623,12697 and 22207).
A direct reply from Mr. Prabhu’s electronic mail to Mr. Kohilan had said that the Railway Board was asked to examine the issue.
