NE NEWS SERVICE
BOGIDOLE (SIBSAGAR DIST, ASSAM)/CHENNAI, FEB 13
Founder & President of Northeast Tamilar Association Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas on Sunday urged the Railway Minister to extend Howrah –Tiruchi bi-weekly express, New Tinsukia – Tambaram weekly and Silghat Town – Tambaram weekly to Kanniyakumari which will give thrust to tourism as well as improve the connectivity between Southern States with the eight Northeastern states.
- Short termination of Kanniyakumari – Dibrugarh at Kochuveli
In an open letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas said the rail connectivity between Kanniyakumari and the eight Northeastern states.
New Tinsukia Junction railway station in Assam gets a ravishing makeover bringing it at par with airports in terms of modern amenities, hygiene and comfort, fulfilling the aspirations of people of North-East.https://t.co/DbXdPBqEf2 pic.twitter.com/WpDWhgv8RJ
— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) June 25, 2019
“As you are aware, India’s North Eastern Region (NER) comprises eight states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura – and constitutes 8% of the country’s geographical area. With due respect, the Northeast and Howrah region accommodate more than 10 lakhs Tamil population, of which more than 50 percent of them are from the central and south part of Tamil Nadu. At the same time, it operates maximum daily trains, including Coramandal Exp, Howrah Mail etc. up to Chennai Central only, which creates a lot of problems for the people, who intend to continue their journey beyond Chennai,” Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas added.
As of now, a biweekly service, Train No. 12665/12666 Howrah -Kanyakumari- Howrah is of great help to travellers to Howrah, which is the gateway to the northeast of India, from the southern district of Tamil Nadu. But this train service is now available only once a week. Over the last few years, we have been continuously requesting the then Railway Ministers and concerned Railway officials/authorities to increase the frequency of Howrah –Kanyakumari weekly service to daily service. If the authority feels any difficulty in increasing the frequency of Howrah -Kanyakumari 12666/12665 weekly to daily, then we would like to suggest and request that suitable arrangements could be made to extend the service of Howrah –Tiruchchirappalli 12663/12664 bi-weekly express up to Kanyakumari. Both trains start at the same time on different days now. Hence, extending them will not cause practical/technical issues. Instead, it will help the people a lot, Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas further added.
According to Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas, Kanyakumari is an important tourist hub in the South and as such, getter rail connectivity to important pilgrimage centres, including Pondicherry, Villupuram, Madurai, Rameshwaram, and Tiru would positively impact the tourism industry. It will also help indirect job creation. People in Kanyakumari and Northeast states would get daily connectivity.
Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having announced more fund for the NorthEast in Budget 2022-23 to boost its infrastructure and transportation which will lead to overall growth of these border states.
Extension of New Tinsukia – Tambaram weekly 15930/15929 & Silghat Town – Tambaram weekly 15630/15629 to Kanniyakumari
He also urged the Railway Minister to take necessary steps to extend the New Tinsukia – Tambaram weekly 15930/15929 and Silghat Town – Tambaram weekly 15630/15629 to Kanniyakumari via. Villupuram, Tiruchchirappalli, Madurai and Tirunelveli to serve the entire Tamil Nadu.
Short termination of Kanniyakumari – Dibrugarh 15905/15906 at Kochuveli
Recently railways increased the frequency of Kanyakumari – Dibrugarh (15905/15906) from weekly to daily service. This train was operating from Southern part of India Kanniyakumari, but not benefitting passengers from Southern districts of Tamil Nadu, because this train was running through Trivandrum, Kottayam and Ernakulum route. We understood that this train was beneficial for passengers of Kerala. But, it causes a lot of time and monetary loss for passengers from Tamil Nadu. This train comes here only for maintenance purpose and it is useful only for Kerala people. The termination of Kanniyakumari – Dibrugarh 15905/15906 train at Kochuveli itself will save the huge of operational cost for the railways, it is wise to arrange the maintenance at Kochuveli itself, suggested Dr Rev Aaron Gnanadas.
