Kochi: India may have become the first Asian nation to reach the Martian orbit, but the country seems to be still lagging in operating railways professionally.
The British brought railways to the hill station of Munnar about a century ago in 1902 and operated it successfully until 1924 when the devastating floods wrought havoc causing irreparable damage to the facility, an irate passenger told the newsskerala.com.
Twenty Three years later the British left the country but no efforts were made to restore the railways. The railway station at Munnar is now Tatas museum and the remains of the track were used as lamp posts, the passenger said.
Seventy-five years have passed since independence, even a derailment sends a panic wave among the top bosses who immediately resort to cancellation of a series of trains even in double track sections.
Two recent derailments of goods trains in close succession near Thrissur caused untold miseries to regular passengers.
The second one was more devastating as it led to cancellation of a few trains like the vital Venad Express.
More shocking was the cancellation of some trains operating in the unaffected areas of Thiruvananthapuram – Ernakulam sector like Vanchinad Express even 15 hours after the derailment.
Why was the second line not optimally used for operating the canceled trains was the question asked by a woman passenger.
Decades back during derailments or track maintenance, all trains including long distance ones used to stop in non stopping stations to pick up the stranded passengers. This is not happening now.
It was pitiable to find empty long distance trains zooming past important stations like Tripunithura where countless passengers waited helplessly due to derailment.
Tripunithura is a satellite township of Kochi and a large number of people use it extensively.
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