Call to start Mangaluru to Rameswaram train soon

The All India Station Masters Association (AISMA), Palakkad division, has asked the Railway authorities to start the proposed train from Mangaluru to Rameswaram soon.

Pointing out that there is no direct train to Rameswaram, a prominent pilgrimage tourism destination in South India, the station masters raised the demand at their 52 nd annual general body meeting held at Kanhangad on Wednesday.

The AISMA said that the Kannur-Coimbatore Express badly needed to increase its coaches considering the heavy rush of passengers.

It said that at least four more coaches should be added to Kannur-Coimbatore Express. It also demanded that a train from Mangaluru to Palakkad be operated to help passengers get connection for Palakkad-Chennai Express (22652). This daily Express via Palani leaves Palakkad at 4.10 p.m. and reaches Chennai Central at 4.05 a.m. the next day.

The AISMA demanded that Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express and Kochi-Kannur Intercity Express be extended to Kasaragod. The station masters also said that sufficient number of personnel be posted for round-the-clock functioning of the information centre at Kasaragod railway station.

AISMA national president P. Sunil Kumar inaugurated the meeting. Former secretary general U. John Vincent Kumar delivered the keynote address. Central and zonal leaders R.K. Unnikrishnan, Rakamanikam Palani, Vijayan Valiyapurayil, E.K. Babu, Gokul Varma Raja, T. Vinu, and Jayesh Shankar spoke.

The meeting elected Asha P.G., Kanhangad station superintendent, as the AISMA divisional secretary. She is the first woman to hold the post in Southern Railway. V.C. Satheeshan, Mangaluru Central station superintendent, was elected president and P.I. Ummar, Shoranur station superintendent, the finance secretary.