By TCN Staff Reporter
Thiruvananthapuram-The railway budget presented yesterday by Mamata Banerjee, was a mixed deal for the railway passengers in Kerala. While there was good news for Malappuram in the form of Rajya Rani Express train, railway passengers from north Kerala, except certain measures of solace, were largely disappointed.
Rajya Rani Express will be a direct express train connecting the 65-km-long Nilambur-Shoranur rail section to the State capital. A large part of this rail section passes through Malappuram district, the Lok Sabha constituency of the Indian Union Muslim League leader, Mr. E. Ahamed. Interestingly IUML made every attempt to take credit for this announcement by the Minister for Railways.
On the other hand, in the absence of any big proposal for new trains, North Kerala had nothing much to cheer about. Several suggestions for extending existing trains, introducing more services and laying new lines from Shoranur to Kasaragod, were overlooked by the rail budget. According to C.E. Chakkunny, general secretary of the Malabar Rail Users’ Association, it was expected that the project for the electrification of the Mangalore- Shoranur line, which was lapsed because of inefficiency of the railway officials in spite of Rs.300 crore which was earmarked for the purpose, will be announced in this budget. Chennai- Mangalore Duronto Express connecting Chennai and Kozhikode was another unfulfilled dream of commuters particularly in the absence of any flight connecting the two cities.
Only relief was the announcement of new trains like the Mangalore- Palakkad Intercity Express, Bhavanagar- Kochuveli Express, Porbander- Kochuveli, Mangalore-Palakkad Inter City, Howrah-Mangalore Express and the Mangalore- Howrah Express. Establishment of another train line between Kannur- Mattanur was also announced in the rail budget.
Mr. Chakkunny also added that the proposed rail line projects Tanur- Guruvayur, Thalassery- Mysore and Nanjangud- Nilambur were also ignored which would have brought otherwise would have brought big relief to the commuters in the Malabar region.
Another disappointment was on the issue of Kanhangad-Kaniyoor line, which in turn would have connected the IT hub of Bangalore to North Malabar region. There was no announcement by the railway minister about the proposed 71-km line in spite of it being one of the long standing demands of the passengers from the region.