The Hindu : Rail link from Dharmapuri to southern districts sought

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 26, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Rail link from Dharmapuri to southern districts sought

By Our Staff Reporter

DHARMAPURI, JAN. 25. There is demand for direct trains from Dharmapuri to southern districts and Chennai. As Salem is the nearest junction, people have to go there to travel to other districts. This is time-consuming and tedious.

A special weekly express train has been introduced on the Bangalore-Nagercoil route but there was no response from commuters. As a result trains were being introduced only during the festival and holiday seasons, according to Southern Railway sources.

According to the Dharmapuri District Rail Passengers Association, the special train was introduced only on a trial basis and it should be made permanent to elicit good response.

There are seven pairs of trains passing through Dharmapuri. Of them, two are weekly trains. A passenger train passes through Dharmapuri at 7 a.m. and two hours later an express train passes. From 9 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. there are no trains. Passengers would benefit if more trains are introduced.

A long felt demand for a direct rail link from Salem to Yashwantpur via Dharmapuri had been recently fulfilled. Public felt that if this service was extended to Coimbatore it would be of help.

As a majority of the town's population works in Karnataka there is heavy traffic on the Salem-Bangalore route. As most of the commuters are labourers they would prefer a passenger train during the night. On an average, about 1,000 passengers travel to Salem and Bangalore daily.

Hosur being a major industrial town, the people there were predominantly from Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil districts. As there are no direct trains from Hosur to other districts the commuters prefer State transport buses or private omni buses.

According to the Dharmapuri District Rail Passengers Association, if trains were operated from Bangalore to the southern districts through Hosur and Dharmapuri it would help a large number of commuters.

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