New MEMU for Malabar fails to arrive despite approval from Railways

Payyannur: The Railways continues to show severe neglect towards the Malabar region by failing to provide sanctioned MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains. Despite a 12-coach MEMU being allotted from Tambaram to the Palakkad Division, it is yet to be delivered.

The decision to allot the 12-coach rake was made during a meeting of the Chief Operations and Mechanical departments, and the official order was subsequently issued; however, the train has not reached Palakkad.

While a 16-coach MEMU was provided to the Kollam depot and a new MEMU was sanctioned for the Palakkad–Pollachi route, a service for the 132 km Kannur–Mangaluru stretch was not even considered.

Even though there are no technical hurdles to extending the Shoranur–Kannur MEMU—which currently halts at Kannur for nine hours—to Mangaluru, the Railways has failed to implement it.

Furthermore, public representatives have failed to intervene. Currently, only one MEMU operates in Malabar (Shoranur–Kannur), while the Kannur–Mangaluru route has none. Although the Shoranur–Kannur–Shoranur MEMU, which was previously reduced to eight coaches, has been restored to 12 coaches, indications suggest it will take more time to upgrade it to a 16-coach rake.