Udupi passengers not on Rly. Quota

The Hindu

Udupi, Aug 27, 2014 : There is no seat quota for three long-distance trains at Udupi Railway Station and passengers are forced to book tickets from other places to board or to alight here. This has also meant that the passengers pay more for the tickets.

 

The trains are bi-weekly train no. 22149/50 Ernakulam-Panvel-Pune Poorna Superfast Express; the weekly train no. 12287/88 Kochuveli-Dehradun Superfast Express; and the weekly train No. 12483/84 Kochuveli-Amritsar Superfast Express.

 

“These three trains have been given temporary halts in Udupi till September 30,” said president of Udupi Railway Yatri Sangha, R.L. Dias.

 

 

Extra expense

Although these three trains halt at Udupi, the lack of ticket quota has meant that passengers from Udupi have to book tickets from Mangalore or Karwar or other stations for boarding or alighting in Udupi. “We do not know how many passengers board or alight in Udupi. The revenue generated from these tickets goes to places from the where the tickets are booked,” Mr. Dias said.

 

“When the passengers, who want to board or alight are forced to book tickets to or from other places such as Mangalore or Kozhikode, they have to shell out more money. This is a loss for the passengers,” said K. Ramachandra Acharya of the sangha.

 

Shantha Rao (70), a homemaker hailing from Udupi now settled in Pune, comes to Udupi at least four to five times. She told The Hindu that she and her husband, K.S. Vasudeva Rao (85), prefer to come by train rather than bus because it was more comfortable and the toilet facility was available.

 

“Though we get down in Udupi, we have to book tickets to Mangalore or Kannur or Kozhikode because there is no ticket quota for Udupi. This is not just costly but also unjust,” Ms. Rao said.

 

The sangha has written to Southern Railway and Central Railway demanding ticket quota for Udupi. “About a week back, I got a letter from Southern Railway asking us to contact the Konkan Railway on the issue, which we will do,” Mr. Dias said.

 

But the sangha fears that having no quota could give a handle to the Railways to cancel the halts of these three trains at Udupi railway station as the latter could claim that there is no revenue from here. “They might declare a lack of revenue and stop these trains from halting here,” Mr. Acharya said.

 

When contacted, Bindu Muralidharan, Regional Railway Manager, Konkan Railway, Karwar, said, “We will take up this matter with the Southern Railway and Central Railway.”