The inordinate delay in completing the four- and six-laning of the NH 66 and NH 544 corridors that pass through Kerala, and the resulting shift to trains by a portion of inter-district passengers, has led to worsening congestion in MEMU rakes and general coaches of trains passing through Ernakulam.
“Hundreds of passengers are forced to travel in overcrowded coaches. The Railways must take urgent steps to augment the number of coaches in MEMU trains and to introduce at least one additional MEMU service from the district to neighbouring districts. Elderly people, children, and women are the worst affected by the crammed conditions within the coaches,” said P. Krishnakumar, general secretary of the Thrissur Railway Passengers’ Association (TRPA).
“Passengers in the Ernakulam–Shornur corridor are particularly agitated by the unprecedented congestion in the Ernakulam–Shornur MEMU (Train number 66320). The situation is especially unbearable on Fridays and Saturdays, when the regular 16-coach rake is replaced by a 12-coach rake, often leaving passengers gasping for breath. It is also worrisome that the Ernakulam–Palakkad MEMU (Train number 66610) operates with only eight coaches. Congestion is similarly acute in the Alappuzha–Kannur Express (Train number 16307). The Railways should allot adequate coaches to both the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad railway divisions so that all MEMU and other short-distance trains can operate with 16 coaches every day of the week,” the TRPA demanded in a memorandum recently submitted to Union Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Gopi.
