Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Passengers travelling on the Kollam-Punalur railway route have asked the Railways to run more unreserved trains for daily commuters. A group called the Kollam-Sengottai Railway Passengers Association recently met officials from the Madurai division and submitted a request to add more trains, as there is a long gap of
nearly nine hours during the day when no trains are available between Kollam and Punalur, causing inconvenience to regular travellers.
Passengers' Opinions Regarding the Train Service
Dipu Ravi, a member of the association, said that more frequent passenger train services are needed on this route to meet the needs of daily commuters. He also suggested starting a new train service between Kollam and Erode through Palani. In addition, he requested the Railways to restart the Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram North Express, especially since the route has recently been electrified and can now support better train operations.
MEMU Trains between Kollam & Punalur
The association further recommended running more MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains between Kollam and Punalur to improve connectivity. However, they noted that extending these services beyond Punalur towards Sengottai may be challenging because of the difficult terrain in the ghat section.
More Demands Raised by Passengers
Another demand made by the group was to change the arrival time of the Madurai-Punalur Express at Punalur. Currently, the train arrives at 10:00 am, but passengers feel that an earlier arrival at around 9:30 am would be more convenient for their daily schedules.
Reason Behind the Demand
Even though the railway line was converted to broad gauge about eight years ago and has recently been electrified, passengers feel that the number of trains running on this route is still not enough. With the growing demand for travel between Kollam, Sengottai, and Tenkasi, they believe more services are necessary to improve connectivity and ease travel.