NE NEWS SERVICE
KANNYAKUMARI, JUNE 3
Kannyakumari District Railway Users’ Association (KKDRUA) on Thursday urged the Southern Railway General Manager to extend Train No 16381/16382 Lokmanya Tilak – Thiruvananthapuram Netravati Express to Kanniyakumari to meet the higher demand of passengers.
“With due respect, we would like to put forward the following demands for your kind attention and favorable consideration. We, request you to take favourable action by approaching the Hon’ble Railway Minister and Railway Board Chairman and implement the same. The Mumbai – Kannyakumari 16381/16382 Express was the sole train connecting Mumbai with Kannyakumari since the 1980s. The railway department had short terminated this train at Pune. We lost daily connection to Mumbai,” said SR Sreeram, President and P Edward Jeni, Secretary ofKanyakumari District Railway Users’ Association in their demand letter.
There is no daily train service from Kanyakumari to Mumbai via Goa (KR) till date. So we request the railway authorities for short termination of 16381/16382 Pune – Kanniyakumari train at Thiruvananthapuram and extension of 16345/16346 Lokmanya Tilak – Thiruvananthapuram Netravati Express to Kanniyakumari. Kanniyakumari and Nagercoil railway stations have limited terminal facilities. It is just an internal adjustment of exchange of maintenance of trains within the same Trivandrum division, added the letter.
The Association further added that “With the main motto of promoting national integration with its train services, it is highly appreciable that the Railways officials in Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram respond in such a manner to this demand. Being in the same division, a much-demanded train (16345/16346 and 16347/16348) is not being extended to Kanniyakumari. Indian Railways is thus limiting itself to state boundaries. Then why does Thiruvananthapuram Division keep controlling the other state railway network? Whenever there are Thiruvananthapuram divisional terminal constraints at Thiruvananthapuram, they extend the trains to Nagercoil, But conversely when passengers benefitting trains are requested for Kanniyakumari district from the same Thiruvananthapuram Division controlling Kanniyakumari district, the reply is big no.”
To meet the continuous and growing demand of the people of Kanniyakumari, it is requested that the Railways come out of its state boundary limitations, and do the needful to provide lost connectivity between Kanniyakumari and Mumbai by extending 16345/16348 express to Kanniyakumari to fulfill this much needed and long-pending demand.
This would not affect any of the present users and help many people, as well. It will be beneficial to passengers travelling to Mumbai via the Konkan route. Also, it yields more revenue to Railways and particularly to the Thiruvananthapuram division. This proposal is a win-win proposition for all only.
