Title - Railways tardy in issuing time tables

Even though the new railway timetable was brought into effect across the country on July 1, railway stations under the Southern Railways are yet to display the new timings on display boards. Also, the public are yet to receive the Public Time Table (PTT) books which provide details of the new timings. Updated information including the extension of train services, the availability of trains etc are provided in these books. However, it will take about two weeks for the books to arrive at the stations. “These books sell like hotcake even in this age when everything is available online. Even if 100-200 copies are brought to the Ernakulam Junction station, it would get over in a week,” said sources with the Railways. Thomas Simon, secretary, Western India Passengers’ Association said that most of the time, the book is not available even months after the new timetable is brought into effect. “I had to wait for months to receive the table last time. It is extremely useful for those who frequently use trains,” he said.

According to sources, it will take at least two weeks for the new timings to be replaced. “Technicians have to go to each station and change the boards as per the details. This will take some time. It would take time for  the PTT books to reach the divisions from the printing press at Secunderabad as well,” officials said. Passengers’ associations have slammed the tardiness displayed by the Railways in printing the tables. Passengers can meanwhile avail of the information on the new train timings from the information offices at railway stations.

The timings of the two new MEMUs that are to run from Ernakulam to Kollam via Kottayam and Alappuzha have been included in the new railway timetable. According to Rajesh Agarwal, the divisional railway manager, the division will introduce the services as soon as possible. However, he was unable to suggest a time frame, as new rakes would be required for the services to get introduced.

“Since the timings of the existing MEMUs will collide with the new ones, we would require a new rake to run the services,” he told ‘Express’.

The new MEMU service will start from Ernakulam at 7.30 pm and will reach Kollam at 11.05 pm via Alappuzha. The Ernakulam-Kollam via Kottayam will begin services from 5.15 pm from Ernakulam and will reach Kollam at 9.45 pm. The train will then leave Kollam at 11.15 am and will reach Ernakulam at 3.25 am.

The timings of the existing MEMUs have also been changed. While the Ernakulam-Kollam MEMU via Kottayam used to leave Ernakulam at 2.00 pm, it will now leave Ernakulam at 12.50 pm.