Coimbatore districts passengers in the lurch
The cancellation of Meter Gauge train services to Madurai from Coimbatore to take up gauge conversion on one side and inordinate delay in the introduction of the Coimbatore-Nagercoil overnight Express train on the other has left the passengers bound for Southern districts in the lurch.Coimbatore and nearby areas besides Tirupur have a large number of migrant population.The migrant population is largely banking on bus services towards Southern districts leaving the Madurai-bound buses packed to their capacity in the evenings.The three Meter Gauge train services to a considerable extent were easing the pressure on road transport. People are heavily relying on omni bus services to Tuticorin, Virudhungar, Tirunelvei and Kanyakumari despite exorbitant fares.Getting accommodation in a Madurai-bound bus used is a nightmare when there is an increase in passenger density during marriage and festival seasons.For the convenience of women, children and aged passengers, the Tamil Nadu State Corporation has recently introduced advance ticket reservation facility besides introducing additional services on the Madurai and Tiruchi section.
The announcement on the much awaited conversion of the Meter Gauge section between Dindigul and Madurai though came as news to rejoice, the lack of alternative arrangements has in fact left the passengers in trouble, K. Ramakrishnan of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam has said.The Southern Railway is embarking on the gauge conversion between Madurai and Dindigul in the first phase and Dindigul-Coimbatore is expected to take off in the next-phase.
Though the Union Railway Minister had announced the introduction of an overnight express train service from Coimbatore to Nagercoil in the Railway Budget no concrete announcement had been made on the date in which the services would commence.An overnight train between Coimbatore and Nagercoil before terminating the MG train services would have substantially helped passengers, said K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause.
