Representational Image | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Kozhikode: The Railways announced 20 special trains to Kerala during the festival season. But of this, only one train is for the Malabar region. Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Shoranur are not behind any other region in terms of the number of passengers. The special trains will run from December 24 to January 4.
The Kanyakumari-Mumbai train that has been announced for the Malabar region belongs to the Western Railway. This train will be crowded from Mumbai itself.
Normally, the Southern Railway sanctions more trains on the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram route. But this time around, the railways has decided to run special trains only to Ernakulam, Kollam and Nagercoil. Buses to the region would also be crowded.
Several of the passengers are currently on the waiting list. A number of people travel from Kozhikode to Bengaluru and Chennai. These passengers will struggle to find options to travel. Running Bengaluru-Kozhikode and Chennai-Kozhikode trains will be a solution for this problem.
The move ignoring the Malabar region comes at a time when the people and MPs are working towards the development of the railways and stations. People are also pointing out that railways will see a significant increase in revenue if more trains are run through Malabar during festival season.
Southern Railway users forum general secretary R Prasanth Kumar said petitions have been filed with all MPs from the Malabar region.
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