Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking a halt for the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat Express at Tirur and Thiruvalla stations, a day after the High Court dismissed a petition seeking the semi high-speed train’s halt there.
On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court turned down the plea, saying that halting points of a train are determined by the Railways and no one has a vested right to demand at which station a particular train should stop.
The train completes its around 500 km distance in 7 hours 50 minutes with halts at Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Shornur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
Of the 14 districts of the state the train halts at nine districts and it has no stop in districts like Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Malappuram, though it passes through these districts, while it doesn’t pass through Idukki and Wayanad districts.
In Vijayan’s letter to Vaishnaw, he has requested for stops at Thiruvalla (Pathanamthitta district) and at Tirur in the Malappuram district.
“It would be beneficial for the Indian Railways to get more revenues if halts are allowed at Tirur and Thiruvalla from where a good number of people travel all across the state and request to consider this,” said Vijayan in his letter.
Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express was flagged off on April 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station.
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