Irregular timings of Palakkad train put commuters in a fix
Pratiksha.Ramkumar | Feb 23, 2019, 04:06 ISTCoimbatore: A group of 20 commuters of the Coimbatore-Palakkad evening train on Friday complained to stationmasters of Palakkad and Coimbatore Junction that the train was not being operated as per schedule.
They alleged that the train, which was scheduled to depart at 7.30pm, departed around 7.06pm leading to many passengers missing the train on Thursday.
However, the stationmaster of Coimbatore Junction denied the allegation and said the train departed as per schedule at 7.30pm and no passenger missed the train.
On Monday, the Salem division issued a press statement stating that the Salem-Coimbatore passenger train and Coimbatore-Palakkad train would be delayed by 60-80 minutes from February 18 to April 20 due to engineering work being undertaken between Tirupur and Somanur.
Accordingly, the departure of 66607 Coimbatore-Palakkad passenger train, scheduled to depart at 6.10pm, would be delayed by 60-80 minutes. The commuters said the railways did not follow either the old timing or the rescheduled timing.
After reading about the new timings in newspapers, M Anuradha and S Bindhu, both employees of GST office in the city, took the bus home on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“On Thursday, we went to the station to give it a chance. The departure time of Coimbatore-Palakkad train was displayed as 6.10pm in the timing board. “Even at 6.30pm, the display board said 6.10pm. When we complained to the stationmaster and deputy station master, they said the train would leave only at 7.30pm as published in newspapers,” she added.
While some frustrated passengers ended up getting on Trichy-Palakkad passenger train at 7pm, others decided to wait and get into the Coimbatore-Palakkad train.
“We had just stepped out of the station to grab a snack and tea and get into the train at 7.30pm. But when we arrived at 7.20pm, we found that the train had already departed,” Kannan, an autorickshaw driver in the city and commuter, said.
Passengers said the Coimbatore-Palakkad train reached hardly five minutes after the Trichy-Palakkad train reached, making it obvious that it left before 7.10pm. “If you look at the ‘find my train’ app, you will see that the train left at 7.06pm and was at Madukkarai at 7.25 pm,” said Bindhu.
They alleged that the train, which was scheduled to depart at 7.30pm, departed around 7.06pm leading to many passengers missing the train on Thursday.
However, the stationmaster of Coimbatore Junction denied the allegation and said the train departed as per schedule at 7.30pm and no passenger missed the train.
On Monday, the Salem division issued a press statement stating that the Salem-Coimbatore passenger train and Coimbatore-Palakkad train would be delayed by 60-80 minutes from February 18 to April 20 due to engineering work being undertaken between Tirupur and Somanur.
Accordingly, the departure of 66607 Coimbatore-Palakkad passenger train, scheduled to depart at 6.10pm, would be delayed by 60-80 minutes. The commuters said the railways did not follow either the old timing or the rescheduled timing.
After reading about the new timings in newspapers, M Anuradha and S Bindhu, both employees of GST office in the city, took the bus home on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“On Thursday, we went to the station to give it a chance. The departure time of Coimbatore-Palakkad train was displayed as 6.10pm in the timing board. “Even at 6.30pm, the display board said 6.10pm. When we complained to the stationmaster and deputy station master, they said the train would leave only at 7.30pm as published in newspapers,” she added.
While some frustrated passengers ended up getting on Trichy-Palakkad passenger train at 7pm, others decided to wait and get into the Coimbatore-Palakkad train.
“We had just stepped out of the station to grab a snack and tea and get into the train at 7.30pm. But when we arrived at 7.20pm, we found that the train had already departed,” Kannan, an autorickshaw driver in the city and commuter, said.
Passengers said the Coimbatore-Palakkad train reached hardly five minutes after the Trichy-Palakkad train reached, making it obvious that it left before 7.10pm. “If you look at the ‘find my train’ app, you will see that the train left at 7.06pm and was at Madukkarai at 7.25 pm,” said Bindhu.
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