Commuter associations have expressed dismay at only two trains finding mention in the new Railway timetable for the State, purportedly owing to hassles involved in replacing tracks.
The date from which the new trains — Hatia-Ernakulam and Howrah-Ernakulam express trains — will commence weekly services has not been announced. The Thrissur Railway Passengers’ Association said that the Southern Railway was citing delay in track replacement as a reason for not introducing trains from Kerala to metro cities and other passenger-dense regions.
“The running time of many trains has not been revised, though track doubling is over at several places. This in itself would have ensured faster movement of trains. Extending trains like the intra-Ernakulam district MEMU to neighbouring districts like Thrissur too has not been done, contrary to expectations,” P. Krishnakumar, general secretary of the body, said.
In his response, Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Prakash Bhutani cited inadequate time gap between two trains as a reason for the delay in track-replacement. “Only 30 km of the 57-km track has been replaced. Introducing more trains at this juncture will further delay track-replacement work. It will also slow down the existing trains. Safety and punctuality are the current priorities,” he said. A senior official of the Railway’s operations wing said trains were running slow in several corridors where the tracks were vulnerable. It will continue for another two months.
Explaining as to why more coaches were not been added to the existing trains that are high in demand, he said most long-distance trains operated with the maximum permissible 23 or 24 coaches. “A few more coaches can be added to trains like Jan Shatabdi Express, which is operated with 20 coaches. MEMU rakes having more coaches too will lessen congestion in the existing long and short-distance trains,” the official added.
Alternative train
The decades-long demand for an alternative train to the jam-packed Venad Express has fallen on deaf ears. There is a huge time lag between the train and subsequent trains in the Ernakulam-Kottayam route during morning and evening peak hours.
The Ernakulam-Coimbatore-Salem Intercity Express and Ernakulam-Kozhikode MEMU too have not been realised, despite high demand. The Thiruvananthapuram-Bangalore Suvida Express too have not been realised.
