Clamour to augment general coaches on trains, MEMU rakes grows louder

The inordinate delay in completing the four- and six-laning of the NH 66 and NH 544 corridors that pass through Kerala, and the resulting shift to trains by a portion of inter-district passengers, has led to worsening congestion in MEMU rakes and general coaches of trains passing through Ernakulam.

“Hundreds of passengers are forced to travel in overcrowded coaches. The Railways must take urgent steps to augment the number of coaches in MEMU trains and to introduce at least one additional MEMU service from the district to neighbouring districts. Elderly people, children, and women are the worst affected by the crammed conditions within the coaches,” said P. Krishnakumar, general secretary of the Thrissur Railway Passengers’ Association (TRPA).

“Passengers in the Ernakulam–Shornur corridor are particularly agitated by the unprecedented congestion in the Ernakulam–Shornur MEMU (Train number 66320). The situation is especially unbearable on Fridays and Saturdays, when the regular 16-coach rake is replaced by a 12-coach rake, often leaving passengers gasping for breath. It is also worrisome that the Ernakulam–Palakkad MEMU (Train number 66610) operates with only eight coaches. Congestion is similarly acute in the Alappuzha–Kannur Express (Train number 16307). The Railways should allot adequate coaches to both the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad railway divisions so that all MEMU and other short-distance trains can operate with 16 coaches every day of the week,” the TRPA demanded in a memorandum recently submitted to Union Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Gopi.

MEMU shed

Friends on Rails, a collective of regular passengers on the Kollam–Ernakulam route, has also expressed its concern over the worsening congestion in MEMU and short-distance trains, as well as in the general coaches of express trains in Kerala. “The Railways must make optimal use of the MEMU maintenance shed at Kollam by introducing more such trains and augmenting coaches in eight- and 12-coach MEMU rakes. This is crucial, as there have been instances of people fainting in crammed coaches due to suffocation,” said Liyons J., general secretary of the collective.

The collective has been demanding that the Railway operate 16-coach MEMU rakes during peak hours in the southern districts and to Ernakulam via both Kottayam and Alappuzha, to provide relief to commuters affected by the ongoing NH development works.

Railway sources attributed the shortfall of MEMU coaches to the need to deploy a 12-coach MEMU rake whenever its 16-coach counterpart is withdrawn for maintenance. This, they said, was also the reason for not being able to augment coaches in other MEMU rakes.