RailEnquiry

Southern Railway Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Rajesh Agarwal has said that the Railways will set up a computerised announcement system in various languages at the Chengannur, Tiruvalla and Kottayam railway stations, where Sabarimala pilgrims typically alight.Speaking after a review meeting here, Agarwal said language is one of the main issues the pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka face.“The announcements were available only in English, Malayalam and Hindi at the Chengannur, Tiruvalla and Kottayam stations. We will now provide announcements in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu along with the existing announcements,” the DRM said. An assessment by officials with the Railways found that, in the previous year, the Railways had operated an average of 10 trains a day for the Sabarimala pilgrims from various areas. It is expecting a 30 per cent increase in the number of pilgrims in the upcoming Sabarimala season. An Internet service was arranged for the pilgrims in the previous year. It will be available this year as well.Railway officials said that, in the previous year, over 23,000 people from Tamil Nadu, around 10,000 from Karnataka and  about 6,000 from Andhra Pradesh had used the web link.The web service will give the status of trains at the Chengannur, Thiruvalla and Kottayam stations. The web link is http://railyatri.in/sabarimala.

Union Minister Kodikkunnil Suresh said that the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation will set up a health clinic at Chengannur railway station.