Residents of the Vellayil region in Kozhikode city are leaving no stones unturned to reinstate the ‘halt station’ status of the Vellayil railway station, even though the Railways have let their cause down repeatedly. The Railways had recently decided not to allow stops to any trains here, despite the station being one of the top grossing halt stations in north Kerala.
Non-availability of halt agents
The non-availability of halt agents was cited as the reason for not retaining the station. The previous halt agent here, who gives away tickets, had expressed unwillingness to continue in the position post-pandemic. However, two other persons have come forward to take up the position and have submitted applications.
The Vellayil Railway Station Samrakshana Samiti has been knocking on every door for the last few months to get the former status back for the station and to develop it as ‘Kozhikode North’ station. The samiti has played a major role in encouraging more people to travel to and from Vellayil, thus raising the monetary value of the station for the Railways. The station has several institutions and offices in the vicinity, the staff of which found the station easily accessible compared to the Kozhikode railway station. However, recent media reports saying that the two persons who had applied for halt agent positions had backed off have triggered panic.
“We contacted both of them and confirmed that the reports were untrue. In fact, they have been summoned to the division office in Palakkad next week for an interview,” said Sudheer Palakkandi, joint convenor of the samiti.
At present, the samithi is concentrating on keeping the station premises clean despite it being abandoned temporarily by the Railways.
