The long-pending demand for a fast passenger train service between Tuticorin and Tirunelveli has not been met so far.
Though Tuticorin was carved out of Tirunelveli district on October 20, 1986, many people are still commuting between Tuticorin and Tirunelveli even today. Commuters mostly comprise government employees and industrial workers, M. Piramanayagam, secretary, Tuticorin District Passengers’ Welfare Association, said here on Friday.
These commuters had been demanding a fast passenger train with limited stops to reach their destination in time. Currently, a passenger train from Tuticorin to Tirunelveli is operated through Vanchi Maniyachi twice a day, but it is a harrowing experience for passengers as the 63-km-long journey takes almost three hours with eight stoppings.
The passengers have to wait at Vanchi Maniyachi to get their bogies connected to locomotive engines and the bypass railway line adjacent to Maniyachi station under Madurai Division of Southern Railway is being utilised only for transporting cargo.
A fast passenger train to Tirunelveli could be introduced through the bypass rail track, he said. The association had requested the railway authorities on several occasions to sanction the fast passenger service through the bypass line adjacent to Vanchi Maniyachi.
It would reduce the journey time by one and a half hours and patronage for the service would be overwhelming, he said. He also appealed to the railway authorities to improve the amenities at Tuticorin railway station.
