K C Venugopal urges Railways to run more special trains to Kerala for Onam

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal has urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to operate additional special trains to Kerala during Onam, saying existing services are inadequate. He sought trains from major cities amid heavy bookings and travel difficulties for passengers

Thiruvananthapuram: AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Friday urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to operate more special trains to Kerala during the Onam season, saying the services announced so far were inadequate.

Venugopal, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, held discussions with Vaishnaw and sought additional trains from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru to major railway stations in Kerala on August 23 and 24, according to a statement. He said seats on regular trains from major cities to Kerala had already been booked, with even waitlisted tickets unavailable on several services.

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This was causing difficulties for workers, students and families living outside the state to return home for harvest festival Onam, resulting in severe travel hardships, he said. Venugopal said he had raised the issue with the Union Railway Ministry on several occasions and also submitted a letter to the minister seeking urgent action in view of the difficulties faced by passengers.

The Congress leader’s request came days after the Indian Railways had announced that that it would run 112 special train trips during the Onam festival season to handle the expected surge in passenger traffic, with Southern Railway operating 54 services and other zonal railways running the remaining 58. The auspicious Thiruonam day falls on Audy 26 this year.