Short-distance passengers, especially office-goers and students, in the State will be hit by the Railway Board’s decision to convert all passenger trains, MEMUs and DEMUs running for more than 200 km into express trains.
As part of the conversion, the speed of the 502 identified trains will be increased and this will result in reduced number of halts. Moreover, fare of express trains are higher than that of passenger trains.
Seventeen pairs of long-distance passenger trains running across Southern Railway will be converted into express trains when normal operations resume.
Thrissur-Kannur Passenger (56603) that runs for 209 km and Kottayam-Nilambur Passenger (56362/56363) that covers a distance of 231 km fall in the category. Once they are converted into express trains, the halts are likely to be reduced in the guise of increasing speed. The passengers who board from small stations in the morning will be left with no other alternative public transport mode.
Thrissur-Kannur Passenger (56603) is the only passenger train from Thrissur towards north in the morning. Some of the trains found a place on the list as they have been formed by merging two or three passenger trains for operational or other reasons.
Kottayam-Nilambur Passenger (56362/56363) was formed by combining Kottayam-Ernakulam, Ernakulam-Shoranur and Shoranur-Nilambur Passengers. The train is catering to the needs of passengers in the Kottayam-Ernakulam-Shoranur sector in the morning and evening and doing away with any of the halts of this train will deprive transportation facility for common people.
‘Provide alternatives’
“Railways should take a judicious decision considering and upholding the interests of ordinary citizens from small railway stations. Alternative arrangements should be worked out for travel before the available passenger train are upgraded,” P. Krishnakumar, ZRUCC Member and General Secretary, Thrissur Railway Passengers Association, said.
When contacted, a top railway official said no decision was taken on this regard. Poor revenue from these trains and efforts to increase the speed are cited as the reasons for the move.
