Kanyakumari District Rail Users’ Association (KDRUA) has demanded the authorities of Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division to give equal importance to Kanyakumari district while introducing new trains and extending train services.
In a release issued here on Sunday, P. Edward Jeni, secretary of the KDRUA, alleged that peoples’ representatives in Kerala were vociferous and hence they got new trains in every budget, and even new trains were introduced without budgetary announcements for the last 20 years.
But the demands of the KDRUA and other such organisations for introduction of daytime train between Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli – the track between these two stations was lying idle during daytime – and extension of a few trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Nagercoil and Kanyakumari were not addressed.
When most of the demands of the KDRUA were not heeded by the railway authorities in Thiruvananthapuram division, Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) service between Aluva-Ernakulam Town-Tirupunithura, named “Cochin City Service”, was inaugurated by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday.
Kochi became the first city in the country to have a local train with two air-conditioned coaches on the lines of suburban services in metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai.
Similarly, new trains such as Nilampur-Ernakulam and Punalur-Guruvayur daily trains were introduced recently in Kerala, which were not announced in the budget, Mr. Jeni alleged. He appealed to the railway authorities to heed the association’s long-pending demand for extension of Tiruchi-Tirunelveli Intercity Express to Thiruvananthapuram and extension of Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru Express to Kanyakumari, the release added.
