Kannur: Thiruvananthapuram-Lokmanya Tilak Netravati Express (16346) witnessed a huge overcrowding on Saturday evening as many passengers with general tickets occupied sleeper coaches.

The situation arose when passengers who were unable to board the general compartments tried to get into reserved sleeper coaches. Due to this the reserved passengers lodged 25 complaints through the RailMadad app. By the time the train reached Shoranur, it was severely crowded, which led to piling up of complaints.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were given instructions to inspect the train at Shoranur. They were directed to expel all general ticket holders from the reserved coaches. Tensions flared in Kozhikode, where reports emerged clashes between RPF personnel and passengers.

Desperate attempts to board the last train

Netravati Express is the last evening train departing for Mangalore, leaving Kozhikode at 5.15 pm and arriving in Kannur by 6.40 pm. Post this service, no trains depart for Kasaragod until the arrival of Chennai-Mangalore West Coast Express early morning 2:30 am. Given that the Netravati Express only has two general coaches, one of which is partly allocated for postal services, many passengers struggle to board the train.

The return journey for daily workers travelling from Kasaragod to Kozhikode is particularly challenging. One of the passenger Suresh Kumar commented, "At least two general coaches should be added, and day sleeper tickets should be issued up to Kasaragod."

MEMU trains

The erratic scheduling, with multiple trains running close together, followed by long gaps, is a widespread issue in Kerala. The solution, according to experts, lies in increasing Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) services.

Metroman E. Sreedharan had earlier said that MEMU electric trains are the most suitable option for short and medium-distance travel. Currently, Kerala operates only 12 MEMU trains. There is just one MEMU service from Shoranur to Kannur, and none on the 132 km stretch from Kannur to Mangalore.