Thiruvananthapuram: The complaints on delay and cancellations of trains dominated the meeting between general manager R.K. Kulshrestha and MPs on the railway development held at government guest house on Wednesday.
The MPs spoke about the hardships faced by office employees due to the late running of trains and the need to provide prior information to help the passengers plan accordingly especially because most of the government offices had introduced punching.
Mr Kodikkunnil Suresh walked out of the meeting alleging that the officials of the railways did not bother about the hardship faced by the commuters.
Mr Shashi Tharoor demanded the speeding up of the construction of rake maintenance facility at Thiruvananthapuram central station or any of its satellite stations for ensuring smooth addition of trains whenever needed. Mr Tharoor wanted the installation of CCTV cameras in five most crowded express trains operating towards and beyond Thiruvananthapuram to curb criminals. Provision of internet facilities in five popular long distance trains was sought to provide uninterrupted connectivity for passengers. He also demanded additional stops to inter-state trains at the Kazhakootam station as Kazhakootam increasingly was becoming a digital hub in the state.
Mr Tharoor suggested stops for 14 express trains and wanted new generation passenger-type Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches for four express trains. The other issues raised included the status of Railway Medical College, implementation of automatic signalling system in Thiruvananthapuram-Thrissur section, Kochuveli terminal development and pit lines.
Out of the 39 MPs under the jurisdiction of the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisions, 19 MPs attended the meeting.
