Southern Railway General Manager R.N. Singh has assured Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan that appropriate steps will be taken to resolve the travelling woes of passengers in north Kerala immediately.
Mr. Raghavan met Mr. Singh at the Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai on Monday. He apprised Mr. Singh of the Railways’ alleged neglect of the Shoranur-Mangaluru stretch and the rush during office hours mainly due to lack of trains. He also cited recent incidents of people fainting inside packed compartments.
There are no trains from Kozhikode towards Mangaluru between 2.45 p.m. and 5 p.m. The MP requested the Railways to advance the timing of 16610 Kozhikode Express from Mangaluru in the morning and to stop holding up Parasuram Express in Kozhikode in the evening.
The Mangaluru-Kozhikode Passenger often returns without enough passengers in the afternoon, and hence, it could be delayed to evening to support the office crowd. A train could be accommodated between Coimbatore-Kannur Passenger and Executive Express. The Thrissur- Kozhikode Passenger that was cancelled for repairs could be brought back and extended up to Kannur to fill the gap. The 12685 Chennai Super Fast shall follow its timing before the pandemic, the MP suggested and sought a favourable move to run MEMUs in the north Kerala region.
He also brought to focus the issue faced by people travelling to Bengaluru from north Kerala. There is only one train from north Kerala to Bengaluru. He suggested extension of 16511/12 Bengaluru-Mangaluru- Kannur express to Kozhikode as it halts in Kannur for six hours.
He sought stops for more express trains at Kadalundi which has immense tourism possibilities. Issues facing Feroke, Kallai, Vellayil and Elathur stations were also discussed.
