Demand for Pollachi-Chennai direct train grows loud

Lack of a direct train to Chennai from Pollachi has become a big headache for frequent passengers, who are forced to travel all the way to Coimbatore to take a night train to the state’s capital. Fed up, they have now approached the Palakkad railway division and Pollachi MLA V Jayaraman with a request to introduce a direct train to Chennai from Pollachi station.
Earlier this week, Pollachi Train Passenger’s Welfare Association had appealed to Jayaraman, who is also the deputy speaker of the assembly, to introduce a few additional trains to the station. “A direct train to Chennai with a stop at Kinathukidavu is the need of the hour, because most passengers, who need to take a train to the state capital, have to take a bus to Coimbatore Junction,” said B Mohanraj, secretary of the association. “With the traffic diversions in place now, buses take more than one and half hours to Ukkadam, from where we have to take another bus or an autorickshaw to Coimbatore Junction.”

They said even taking a train to Coimbatore to catch a train to Chennai was also cumbersome. “The evening train leaves Pollachi at 8.30pm and reaches Coimbatore at 9.50pm. So, we are forced to book only late-night train like Cheran Express. Moreover, old and disabled often find it difficult to change platforms to board the new train. So, even one direct night train to Chennai will make a big difference,” said R Saravanan, a resident of Pollachi. “Catching the early morning or afternoon chair car trains from here aren’t also a solution as the first one doesn’t reach Coimbatore in time for the early morning intercity, while the second one reaches there at least four hours prior to the first evening train to Chennai.”

Travellers also appealed for more passenger trains to Coimbatore from Palakkad, via Pollachi, Kinathikadavu and Podanur. “Such trains existed when the track was a broad guage. Now, trains from Coimbatore to Palakkad go through Walayar, and not Pollachi. As a result, many passengers from areas such as Minatchipuram and Kollengode have very minimal rail connectivity,” Mohanraj said.