The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called upon the Southern Railway to halt collection of berth charges for Cholan Express which runs between Tiruchi and Chennai via Mayiladuthurai. The party has alleged that chair car facility is absent in train no.6854 (Cholan Express).
The reserved ticket fare from Mayiladuthurai to Chennai is Rs.150, against Rs.70 for unreserved travel. In a communication to The Hindu , K.Rajendran, State in-charge, BJP legal cell, said the railway has attributed this to the lack of chair car bogies and that the Cholan Express runs on borrowed bogies from Mangalore Express, a night train.
Day trains are not entitled to berth facilities, but the Southern Railway has been charging an additional Rs.80 for reserved seats with berth. In the absence of chair car facility for a long journey, passengers are forced to pay twice the normal charges.
The train departs at 9.10 a.m. from Tiruchi and reaches Chennai Egmore at 5.45 p.m.
The 122km BG line between Villupuram and Mayiladuthurai was opened for traffic last April. Following this, the Cholan Express called the day express was being operated between Tiruchi and Chennai via Mayiladuthurai.
According to Mr. Rajendran, the Southern Railway collects Rs.2 lakh per day, and has made over Rs.6 crore, ‘unjustly' in the past 300 days.
“It is learnt that the chair car bogies ordered by the Southern Railway have been exported to Indonesia, and there will be no provision for another year. We demand immediate halt to the collection of berth charges, till the railway board provides chair cars.”
The BJP legal cell would file a PIL at the High Court seeking halt to the practice, Mr.Rajendran said.
