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Passengers attribute it to odd timings, less stoppages and lack of publicity
At least two coaches were empty in the newly-introduced Antyodaya Express that started chugging from Madurai towards Virudhunagar on Thursday morning. The scene in other coaches was also not very encouraging as each coach had only five to 20 passengers who were either bound for Virudhunagar or Tirunelveli as the train stops only in these two stations.
Railway sources and passengers attributed the poor patronage to a slew of factors like odd timings, longer travel duration and lesser number of stoppages...
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and more importantly, lack of adequate publicity.
“It starts past midnight (at 12.30 a.m.) at Tambaram. Not many families with female members will prefer to travel at odd hours,” said K. P. Minor Selvam (64) of Srivaikuntam. He said that he had already travelled by this train twice and enjoyed its neat look and comfort. “I paid only Rs. 240 per passenger. Otherwise, it would cost Rs. 900 in omni bus. For aged people like us, it is very comfortable,” he said.
“If the train starts at around 10 p.m., it will be more beneficial. Similarly, it does not stop in stations like Sattur, Kovilpatti, Vanchimaniyachi, where more passengers would board or get down,” he said.
His wife, Parvathi, complained of unscheduled and longer stoppages in isolated spots.
“I think it stopped for unusually longer period near Thanjavur when we went to Chennai,” she said. The train has only nine stoppages between Tambaram and Tirunelveli.
Another passenger, T. Charles and his wife, from Tirunelveli also complained that the train stopped for at least 30 minutes at many stations. Even at Madurai and Virudhunagar, the train stopped for more than 25 minutes. “Instead, the train can be made to stop at other important stations also, so that passengers can benefit. Ideally, the train should reach the destination by 10.30 a.m. or 11 a.m. Otherwise, passengers will lose the whole daytime travelling,” he said.
S. Shahul and his friends from Tirunelveli, chose to travel by this train as they wanted to board the last train after completing some work. “Not many were in our coach as it was in the fag end of the train formation. We all slept in the lower berths and only a couple of them were on the upper berth (the provision for keeping luggage). Since, the train started late in the night, not many boarded in the way-side stations,” he said.
Echoing Mr. Selvam, a railway officer said that lack of awareness among passengers about this service is a handicap. “We are sure that it would pick up in future as it is cheap and also comfortable,” he said.
However, a railway source said that though the train can stop in at least 30 places in the present running duration of 15 hours sticking to the current timings, the train should stop at least in 20 important stations to cater to the common man as the very concept of “Antyodaya” suggested.
“Why should the train take 4.40 hours to cross 150 km (Madurai-Tirunelveli) with just one stop (at Virudhunagar). The fare is Rs. 20 excess of the superfast ordinary second class ticket. If that be the case, the train should run at a speed matching the tag of superfast trains,” he added.
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SOURCE-The Hindu (website)
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