Southern Railway has proposed to increase the frequency of the Chennai-Shencottah Silambu bi-weekly express into tri-weekly.
Its General Manager R.K. Kulshrestha gave this assurance at a meeting of Members of Parliament belonging to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from the jurisdiction of Madurai and Tiruchi railway divisions here on Tuesday.
Responding to a demand made by Sivaganga MP PR. Senthilnathan to make the bi-weekly express a daily express, Mr. Kulshrestha said that the proposal to increase the frequency to tri-weekly had been sent to the Railway Board.
“The General Manager said that increasing the frequency of Silambu Express to daily express was not feasible due to lack of infrastructure for maintenance of rakes at Chennai Egmore,” Mr. Senthilnathan said.
The General Manager also told the MPs that the Tambaram-Shencottah Antyodaya daily express would be introduced soon on getting nod from the Railway Board.
He cited lack of rakes for making the Rameswaram-Coimbatore Weekly express as a daily express. Mr. Senthilnathan sought coach indication boards and platform shelters for Devakottai, Sivaganga and Manamadurai railway stations. Besides, he sought six rail overbridges in his district.
Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan sought upgrading of the Tirupparankundram railway station with all passenger amenities for stoppages of more trains. “I pointed out that the AIIMS had been planned at the nearby Thoppur and the Tirupparankundram railway station would be most-sought after by patients who come by train to the speciality hospital from various parts of the State,” he said.
Stating that the Antyodaya Express — a rake with all unreserved coaches — would serve only the middle class and the poor passengers, Mr. Gopalakrishnan sought more stoppages between Tirunelveli and Madurai and beyond so that more passengers would start using the train.
“At this rate of fewer passengers using the train, the railways could at a later stage blame poor patronage and stop this train in this section. With more stoppages, the trains will get more patronage,” he said.
The Madurai MP also sought halting of Madurai-bound Pandian Superfast Express at Koodal Nagar railway station for the benefit of passengers who need to go to northern parts of the city, before more trains are stopped on upgrading it into a model railway station.
Twelve MPs from Tamil Nadu and one MP from Kerala took part in the meeting. Principal Heads of Departments and Divisional Railway Managers of Madurai and Tiruchi divisions attended the meeting.
The General Manager highlighted various works that had been targeted for completion and which had been proposed in the field of improving passenger amenities constituency-wise. He said that the demands of the MPs for additional train services and additional stoppages for trains would be considered.