Kochi: It took Venad Express three hours to travel from Ernakulam to Kottayam to cover just 59 kms on January 13, 2022 making a joke of the Narendra Modi government’s agenda to run Railways efficiently.
This is how Railways Trivandrum division is functioning by making a mockery of BJP government’s tall claims of railways efficiency.
It was a torturing experience for passengers, mainly women, as the train departing about ten minutes late from Ernakulam junction, at 1735 hrs was detained in a non stopping station of Vaikom for about 30 minutes.
Then it was detained in Ettumanoor station outer for 30 minutes and another 30 minutes in Ettumanoor station. Even as it takes just twelve minutes for a train to run from Ettumanoor to Kottayam, the railway bosses mercilessly detained Venad Express for 30 minutes in Ettumanoor.
This is just tip of an iceberg of the inefficiency of railways in the Thiruvanthapuram division.
This is not an isolated case as the railways torture passengers travelling in the Chingavanam-Kottayam-Ettumanoor section almost every day.
Trains are unnecessarily detained in Ettumanoor for long time even if no trains are coming from opposite side towards Ernakulam.
While insiders in railways agree that the employees take their anger against the railways on the passengers.
Attempts to contact Divisional Railways Manager did not succeed. When contacted an official, he told the newsskerala.com that he would enquire into it. But there was no further feedback from the official.
How trains ran on time 45 years back is a question asked by irate passengers. Even steam engines reached their destinations ahead of schedule as any delay would have caused serious consequences on the staff.
Four and half decades down the line, efficiency has deteriorated mainly in Kerala.
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