The silence in the Railway Budget about developing under-utilised railway stations and other amenities in Ernakulam district has been widely criticised by passenger and residents' associations here.
The president of Ernakulam District Residents' Associations Apex Council (EDRAAC) P. Rangadasa Prabhu deplored the budget as a hugely disappointing one for Kerala. “Our association was among those who spearheaded the campaign to revive the Old Railway Station located behind the High Court that fell into disuse a few decades ago. Similar is the case with the Harbour Terminus railway station in Wellingdon Island, where there is plenty of land but no passenger train comes. The development of the two main railway stations in the city and those in the suburbs too is in doldrums because of the apathy of the Railways.”
Ministers blamed
“The State has been ignored. Agitations by organisations like ours and submitting of memoranda to senior railway officials and Union Ministers from the State has been of little use. Things could have been better if they had pursued pressing issues that affect passengers with higher ups in the Railway Ministry,” Mr Prabhu said.
“The Railways has ignored Kerala, despite the impending fare hike,” said Mathew Paul, general secretary of All Kerala Railway Passengers' Association. “Kerala needs electrified four-line rail connectivity from one end to the other. This would enable the introduction of more trains and also help increase their speed, thus decongesting highways. But as things stand, even lane doubling is incomplete. Passenger trains would further slow down once more goods trains ply from the Vallarpadam container transshipment terminal,” he said.
He reiterated the association's demand to introduce automatic signals so that more trains could ply over the existing lines. “The sidestepping of Kerala shows that our MPs were ineffective in taking up the cause of commuters,” Mr Paul said. He demanded the continuance of the existing short-distance passenger trains even after the MEMU services begin operating from Ernakulam to Kollam and neighbouring districts.
M. Vijayakumar, former Speaker and Minister who held the Railway and Ports portfolio in the LDF Ministry, said here on Wednesday that every year a good share of the funds meant for Kerala that are unused are being diverted to Tamil Nadu. He expressed concern over the Sabari Rail project that was proposed 10 years ago reaching nowhere.
