Malappuram/Kannur: After years of anticipation and fervent hopes, the announcement of the newly sanctioned Mangaluru-Rameswaram train has left the residents of Malappuram district a disappointed lot as there would be no stop for the train within the district’s bounds. The Railway Board sanctioned the Mangaluru-Rameswaram train the other day, after the service was first recommended back in 2015. Since then, recommendations were submitted to the board several times. During the many meetings with railways authorities, all the MPs from the state had sought the sanctioning of the train in one voice. The demand, ignored for years, was finally accepted by the Railways the other day. It has been allotted as a weekly train.
However, the train does not have a stop in Malappuram district while stops have been allotted in all other districts through which it passes. MPs from the district E T Muhammed Basheer and M P Abdussamad Samadani had demanded stops for the train at Tirur and Kuttipuram in the last Palakkad Railway Division meeting. Accordingly, the Palakkad Division submitted the recommendation to the Railway Board, but the same was ignored. As per the Railway Board’s decision, the new train will have stops at Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Shoranur, Palakkad, Pollachi, Palani, Oddanchatram, Dindigul, Madurai, Manamadurai and Ramanathapuram.
The train service mainly aims to cater to pilgrims as a large number are expected to depend on it to travel to Rameswaram and Palani from the district, which has many temples like Thirumandhamkunnu, Kadampuzha, Thriprangode, Thirunavaya and Alathiyur. There will also be considerable passenger traffic to places like Pollachi. Yet the district has been excluded, and a wave of protests has erupted over it. The passengers demand that the railways allot a stop in the district as well by the time the train starts running.
Grave injustice
Meanwhile, Muhammed Basheer and Abdussamad Samadani protested against the railway authorities not allotting a stop at Tirur. As per the order of the Railway Board, issued just before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, no halt is allotted for the train in the district while it has stops at other districts, they pointed out.
“This is nothing short of grave injustice. No stop has been allotted anywhere in the district, including in Tirur, where a lot many pilgrims visit Hindu pilgrim centres such as Alathiyur Hanuman temple, Thirunavaya Navamukunda temple, and Kadampuzha. The authorities should take measures to allot a stop for the train, which was a long pending demand of the people of Malappuram,” they said.
Weekly service via Pollachi, Pazhani
With the sanctioning of the weekly train to Rameshwaram, another long wait of the North Malabar denizens is coming to an end. It will leave Mangaluru at 7.30 pm on Saturdays and reach Rameswaram at 11.45 am on Sundays. On its return leg, it will leave Rameswaram at 2 pm on Sundays and reach Mangaluru at 5.50 am on Mondays.
Since the journey is via Pollachi and Palani, the train will benefit pilgrims travelling to Palani as well as tourists visiting Kodaikanal. However, since the service is only once a week, it will be difficult for those who reach Rameswaram by this train to visit the temples, do other things like sightseeing, and return on the same train.
It would have proved more beneficial if at least three services were operated a week. Besides, if the train schedule is revised to facilitate its departure from Rameswaram in the evening instead of the current 2 pm, it would have catered to a lot of pilgrims and travellers. The construction of the Rs 535-crore Pamban bridge is expected to be over by May last. The railways plans to operate the service till Ramanathapuram until then.
