Madurai
Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan has appealed to Southern Railway to re-introduce passenger trains that were cancelled after the outbreak of COVID-19.
In a memorandum submitted to Madurai Divisional Railway Manager V.R. Lenin here on Tuesday, Mr. Venkatesan said that the viral infection has come down to a significant extent and the Centre has relaxed the lockdown conditions.
“Even after the State Government having given permission for operation of passenger trains, the railway administration has not come forward to operate passenger trains,” he said.
He recalled that three pairs of passenger trains were being operated between Madurai and Rameswaram before the lockdown. Similarly, Rameswaram-Kanniyakumari tri-weekly express trains were also operated earlier.
“As all these trains have not been operated between Madurai and Rameswaram, passengers were put to a lot of suffering,” he said.
Similarly, three pairs of passenger trains that were operated on Madurai-Shencottah section have not been re-introduced which has put passengers of Virudhunagar, Sivakasi, Srivilliputtur, Rajapalayam, Sankarankoil, Kadayanallur and Tenkasi passengers to lot of inconvenience.
The MP also wanted the Railways to roll back its decision of converting passenger trains that were run for more than 200 km into express trains.
Stating that lot of workers employed in big and small industrial units in Madurai were making use of the passenger trains for their daily commuting. Similarly, small traders and students were making use of season tickets. However, in the absence of trains, these people had to shell out at least 25% of their wages on their travel.
Hence, passenger train should be introduced in all sections.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP also said that the practice of allowing only reserved passengers to travel in all trains should also be withdrawn.
The ladies compartment have been converted into general compartment in trains and concession for various categories, including senior citizens, have been denied, he pointed out.
