Title - Long-distance trains likely to speed past smaller stations

Hoping to reduce the number of hours of travel for long-distance railway travellers in the state, the Thiruvananthapuram Division is mooting a proposal to cancel not less than 50 or 100 halts of long-distance trains in the state. According to Rajesh Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram Division, there are numerous stops for the long- distance trains in the state, thus affecting their speed.  “Long-distance travellers are forced to sit longer hours owing to halts at small stations. In other states, the long-distance trains halt only at major stations,” he said. He added that in Tamil Nadu, the distance between two stops is approximately 50-100 km. “However, in Kerala, long-distance trains stop at every station. Furthermore, most of the stops were unnecessarily brought into effect based on pressure from MPs,” he said. Additionally, if these unnecessary stops are cancelled, the speed and efficiency of the long-distance trains can be increased. It will also reduce half of the present time required to travel to Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand. Agarwal also said that, a stop is usually mooted because passengers from smaller towns wish to alight at places like Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram. “We are striving to introduce more passenger trains and coaches in the state. This is yet another reason to put forward a proposal to increase the coach capacity of all passenger trains to 24,” he said. Some halts that may be cancelled are at smaller stations in the Thiruvananthapuram Division. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed said that the Railways has been asked to list the stops that have the least number of passengers. “We will give the Railways the green signal to cancel such stops. However, since most of the stops have been provided based on public demand, we won’t allow dropping those stops from the list. The Railways has raised such a demand, but it is not possible in a state like Kerala. A balance has to be struck. The Railways should provide more passenger trains if they are concerned about long-distance travellers,” he said.