M.K. Raghavan, MP, has urged the Southern Railway to return to the old timings of the Yeshwantpur-Kannur Express to Bengaluru, claiming that the new timings are causing inconvenience to passengers.
In a letter to R.K. Kulshrestha, general manager, Southern Railway, he pointed out that the authorities had claimed that the change in timings was to ensure that the Chennai-Mangaluru Superfast Mail ran on time.
Mr. Raghavan said that changing the timings of the only daily train to Bengaluru via Palakkad to help the running of another train to Chennai did not make sense, as there were seven trains to the capital of Tamil Nadu from Kerala.
A good number of those employed in IT and allied industries in Bengaluru are depending on the Yeshwantpur-Kannur Express for their travel. Mr. Raghavan alleged that the rescheduling would only help private bus operators and incur losses to the Railways.
The Yeshwantpur-Kannur Express had been running late since August 15 between Palakkad and Kannur after timings were rescheduled. Mr. Raghavan said there had been a significant drop in the number of passengers since then.