Railway turning blind eye to Tiruvalla

Thiruvananthapuram: Many trains do not have stops  at Tiruvalla even though it is the only railway station in Pathanamthitta district. Many trains stop at other stations where collections are low and have only B class status  while the demand for stops at Tiruvalla, which has an A class status, is ignored.

Babykutty, a regular commuter from Tiruvalla, told DC that Thiruvananthapuram-Kannur Janashathabdi and Kochuveli-Yashanthpur Gareeb Rath do not have permanent stops at Tiruvalla.  Temporary stops were allotted to Tiruvalla from November 15, 2013 to January 20, 2014 for  the Sabarimala season, he said.

The statistics showed that  passengers with reservation from Tiruvalla were more than those  from a nearby station which has a permanent stop for these trains. Moreover, the stops allowed at Tiruvalla had not caused additional delay for these trains, he said.

Ullas, another passenger, said Tiruvalla was an A class station based on the passenger collections. However, there are permanent stops for these trains in a number of B class stations, he said.

Union minister of state for civil aviation K.C. Venugopal had announced that Kollam- Visakhapatnam long route train will stop at Karunagappally from January 30 even though the daily collection for trains at the station was very low.