The Kerala government on Wednesday requested the Ministry of Railways to allot stops for the Vande Bharat Express at Tirur and Tiruvalla in the state’s Malappuram and Pathanamthitta districts, respectively, citing heavy passenger traffic at both the places. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sent a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, drawing his attention to the “reasonable demand” of rail passengers to stop at Tirur and Tiruvalla.
Vijayan said Tirur is an important station on the Shoranur-Mangalore section of Southern Railway and has also been included in the AMRUT Bharat scheme to develop it as a model station.
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“This section has heavy passenger traffic on both the northern and southern sides. Similarly, Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district is also a station that occupies a pride of place in the railway map of Kerala and has heavy passenger traffic,” he added.
The CM said the state welcomed the allocation of the Vande Bharat train to Kerala, and it would be immensely helpful to rail passengers if requests to stop at “two very important stations” were “favorably considered” at the earliest. “
The Kerala High Court recently dismissed a PIL seeking to allow the Railways to have a stop at Tirur, saying that if every person in every district starts shouting for a stop of their choice If so, “the very purpose of setting up the high-speed train is lost.”
“Railway stops are not provided on demand on the basis of personal or vested interests, especially for high-speed express trains like Vande Bharat. If stops are provided on demand by the public, the term ‘express train’ You will become a false name.” the court had said.
Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station on 25 April.
The Vande Bharat Express, which will connect the state capital with Kerala’s northernmost district Kasaragod, has been pitched as an alternative to the LDF government’s ambitious plans for semi-high-speed rail corridor Silverline.