Chennai: A group of railway passenger associations has petitioned the railway ministry and the state BJP top brass on Monday to address long pending demands of train passengers for a better deal for the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
Queries were addressed to Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan and railway minister Suresh Prabhu. TN Southern Districts Train Passengers Association (TNSDTPA), a combine of 12 rail passengers forums, urged the rail ministry to allocate three express trains from Chennai, upgrade a station and to introduce a double line in the southern district section.
“Apart from five daily express trains currently operated between Chennai and southern districts, we need at least three more trains towards Madurai and Kanyakumari which has been a long pending demand. Also, we demanded the work of the double line between Madurai and Kanyakumari that was proposed in the previous railway budget to be commenced as soon as possible so that the existing trains could connect to more districts,” said J. Soosai Raj, general secretary, TNSDTPA.
The passenger association has demanded that the Egmore–Nagercoil weekly express train be converted to daily train, upgrade Nagercoil town station with two more platforms, introduce a new train between Nagercoil and Trivandrum and start an EMU coach factory at Nanganeri where the land is already allocated.
A group of rail users forum in Chennai while speaking to DC raised concerns regarding infrastructure facilities in suburban and MRTS stations and has urged the ministry to improve safety, security and clea nliness in these stations.
“We hope the railway budget allocate more funds towards safety, security and cleanliness in stations in Chennai city suburbs,” said M.K Balasubhramanyam, Chennai coordinator of Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, an all- India consumer protection body.
