Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and a few other political parties and outfits staged a protest here on Monday condemning the Indian Railways for ignoring people’s needs.
The Kazhagam’s general secretary Ku. Ramakrishnan said there was very poor train connectivity from the district to southern Tamil Nadu. Prior to the completion of Metre Gauge to Broad Gauge line conversion, there were eight trains daily from Coimbatore to Madurai, Rameswaram, Thoothukudi, Nagercoil and a few other places.
After spending ₹300 crore on line conversion, the Indian Railways, particularly the Palakkad Railway Division, was not keen on restoring those trains.
Recently the Railways announced a train from Pollachi to Tiruchendur. Commuters in the district who were happy with the new train service sought extension of the train to either Coimbatore or Mettupalayam, Mr. Ramakrishnan said and added that the Palakkad Railway Division chose to extend the train to Palakkad though. This was condemnable and showed how the Division sidestepped the people’s demands.
The protesting organisations’ demand, therefore, was for taking the administrative control of Pollachi and Kinathukadavu sections from the Palakkad Division to the Salem Railway Division. For, this was the only way to protect the people’s interest, he added.
