Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Novel protest by TPDK to mobilise fund for railways

Staff reporter

Cadres to beg on the streets to raise money to buy coaches

Coimbatore: The Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) has announced that its cadres would beg on the streets on Tuesday to mobilise money for the Southern Railway to buy new coaches for operating the Coimbatore – Nagercoil overnight express train.

The General Secretary of the Kazhagam, K. Ramakrishnan, said that Coimbatore accounted for a large migrant population from the southern districts.

There had been a demand for a direct overnight express train for them.

There is only one fast passenger train to Nagercoil during daytime. This resulted in people preferring to travel during the night being forced to rely on omni buses, he said. Following a protest by the TPDK by sending thousands of telegrams to the Union Railway Minister, the introduction of Coimbatore – Nagercoil – Coimbatore overnight express train was announced in the railway budget presented before the Parliament in February this year.

But citing lack of adequate coaches, the Southern Railway was delaying the introduction of the train for the last six months, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

Trains to Madurai on the metre gauge section had been stopped recently to enable gauge conversion on the Madurai – Dindigul – Madurai section.

This left the passengers to southern districts in the lurch.

With Tirupur and Coimbatore holding huge employment potential, the Southern Railway was deliberately sabotaging the prospects of the southern district population by denying them a rail-link and was indirectly trying to promote employment for people from Kerala by operating more number of special trains, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

When there were no coaches for introducing an overnight express train as announced in the budget from where did the railway administration got the coaches for operating so many special trains to Kerala, Mr. Ramakrishnan asked.

Hence to support the Southern Railway financially for getting new coaches for the Nagercoil train, the Kazhagam members would beg at Railway Station and Gandhipuram on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

The money realised through begging would be sent to the Union Railway Minister for buying coaches to operate the train, he said.

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