Pallavan Express extension: consumer forums plan fast
Members of various consumer and service organisations
have decided to observe a day-long fast in the city on March 10 to urge
the Railway Minister not to extend the Chennai-Tiruchi-Chennai Pallavan
Express to Karaikudi as announced in the Railway Budget. A unanimous
decision was taken at an emergency meeting convened by the Federation of
Consumer and Service Organisations here on Thursday.
The participants said many trains that originated from Tiruchi,
including the Rockfort, Jan Shatabdhi and Tea Garden expresses, have
been extended one after the other. The daytime superfast Pallavan
Express was the latest to join the list, they said.
Instead
of extending the Pallavan Express, the Railways could operate a new
train from Karaikudi to Chennai in the morning hours keeping 6 a.m. as
the time of departure, president of the federation M.Sekaran said adding
that such a move would help people of Karaikudi.
If
the existing departure time of the Pallavan express from Tiruchi were
to remain unchanged even after extension, it would have to leave
Karaikudi in the wee hours and this may prove inconvenient to those
boarding from Karaikudi, he said.
The extension of
the train could pose more problems to travellers from Tiruchi boarding
the unreserved coaches, Mr.Sekaran said.
He said the
federation would make an appeal to Finance Minister P.Chidambaram to
prevail upon the Railway Ministry to drop the move and instead operate a
new morning train from Karaikudi to Chennai.
A delegation of members of various consumers groups has planned to meet the Finance Minister in this regard, he added.
The
federation would invite the two Members of Parliament and MLAs of
Tiruchi for the proposed hunger fast. The federation members later
submitted a memorandum at the office of the Divisional Railway Manager
here in support of their demand.
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