Railways shut down parcel traffic in Thalassery, closes down parcel office in station

Thalassery: The chief commercial manager of the Southern Railway has ordered shut-down of the parcel office at Thalassery Railway Station. Those who have been sending and receiving parcels from Thalassery railway station now have to rely on the parcel centres in Kozhikode and Kannur railway stations.

The railways had already closed down the parcel centres in Vadakara and Payyannur. However, the parcel service in Thalassery had been one of the most lucrative centres. The parcel office here generates a monthly revenue of at least ₹3.5 lakh. Last month, the railways earned ₹3.75 lakh in parcel services from Thalassery.

Thalassery, which is one of the first railway stations in Kerala, was once the only station between Kozhikode and Mangaluru. Thalassery railway station had been handling parcels since the early stages of railway development in Kerala. The parcel office in Thalassery functioned from 9 am to 5 pm. When this parcel office closes down, eight porters who have been working here would lose their jobs.

It is assumed that, for months, the authorities have been mulling to wrap up the parcel services. As a first step, the authorities ousted the porters from the room they had been using for years. The room was suddenly allotted to the cleaning staff after moving the porters’ clothes and belongings to the platform.

Earlier, the goods shed in Thalassery that was dismantled for track doubling wasn’t rebuilt. Now, the authorities have shut down the parcel traffic that served as an essential service for the people in the locality.