The Southern Railway has extended Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli, weekly train service from for another three months due to the overwhelming response from the train passengers.
Coimbatore: Train travel is the most favoured mode of travel among passengers who travel from Coimbatore to Southern districts.
In this scenario, the Southern Railway has extended Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli, weekly train service from for another three months due to the overwhelming response from train passengers.
The train service has been extended for 3 months from April 06 to June 29.
The weekly train service from Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli has been a boon for passengers travelling to Southern districts as it traverses towns from Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli via Coimbatore, Pollachi, Palani, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivakasi and Tenkasi.
The train departs from Tirunelveli at 7 pm every Thursday and reaches Mettupalayam at 7.45 am on Friday. In the opposite direction, the train leaves Mettupalayam at 7.45 pm every Friday and reaches Tirunelveli at 7.45 am on Saturday
Even though the train service used to have good patronage and fetched profits for the Railways, it was discontinued which disappointed the train passengers.
Due to strong passenger demand, the train service was reintroduced again in recent months.
In terms of revenue, the train service fetched Rs 1.56 crore in five months. In view of this Southern Railway has announced that it will extend the weekly service by another 3 months.
Social Activist Pandiaraja from Tenkasi raised an RTI query about the revenue for the special train and the occupancy rate.
As per the RTI reply, the Tirunelveli-Mettupalayam train with 15,189 passengers has an income generation of Rs 69.5 lakh with 83.79 per cent occupation, while the Mettupalayam-Tirunelveli train with 18,978 passengers with an income 86.54 lakh has a 100.56 per cent occupation.
The weekly special train service, which operated 22 services in both directions for five months, generated a total revenue of Rs 1.56 crore.
Social activist Pandiaraja said that “there has been a good response among the passengers for the running of Tirunelveli-Mettupalayam special train”
“Since these special trains are run at Tatkal fare, the railways also rake in good revenue. Therefore, the Southern railway should take steps to declare this service as a permanent service as per the passengers' need” he said.
In this scenario, the Southern Railway has extended Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli, weekly train service from for another three months due to the overwhelming response from train passengers.
The train service has been extended for 3 months from April 06 to June 29.
The weekly train service from Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli has been a boon for passengers travelling to Southern districts as it traverses towns from Mettupalayam to Tirunelveli via Coimbatore, Pollachi, Palani, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivakasi and Tenkasi.
The train departs from Tirunelveli at 7 pm every Thursday and reaches Mettupalayam at 7.45 am on Friday. In the opposite direction, the train leaves Mettupalayam at 7.45 pm every Friday and reaches Tirunelveli at 7.45 am on Saturday
Even though the train service used to have good patronage and fetched profits for the Railways, it was discontinued which disappointed the train passengers.
Due to strong passenger demand, the train service was reintroduced again in recent months.
In terms of revenue, the train service fetched Rs 1.56 crore in five months. In view of this Southern Railway has announced that it will extend the weekly service by another 3 months.
Social Activist Pandiaraja from Tenkasi raised an RTI query about the revenue for the special train and the occupancy rate.
As per the RTI reply, the Tirunelveli-Mettupalayam train with 15,189 passengers has an income generation of Rs 69.5 lakh with 83.79 per cent occupation, while the Mettupalayam-Tirunelveli train with 18,978 passengers with an income 86.54 lakh has a 100.56 per cent occupation.
The weekly special train service, which operated 22 services in both directions for five months, generated a total revenue of Rs 1.56 crore.
Social activist Pandiaraja said that “there has been a good response among the passengers for the running of Tirunelveli-Mettupalayam special train”
“Since these special trains are run at Tatkal fare, the railways also rake in good revenue. Therefore, the Southern railway should take steps to declare this service as a permanent service as per the passengers' need” he said.