Railway Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) V.K. Tripathi has assured M.K. Raghavan, MP, that the board would consider the recommendations of the railway timetable committee that focused on the needs of Malabar.
Mr. Raghavan, who met the CEO in New Delhi on Wednesday, said the railway timetable committee, which met in Bengaluru on June 10, had approved the extension of 16512/16511 Bangalore-Kannur Express to Kozhikode and 16610 Mangalore-Kozhikode Express to Palakkad. This apart, the timetable committee had also decided to introduce a new service to Rameshwaram via Mangaluru, Kozhikode, and Madurai.
Although the new service to Rameshwaram had been approved by the board earlier, the service is yet to commence, Mr. Raghavan said, adding that it was a necessity for travellers from Malabar. “The service will be convenient for people travelling from Kozhikode to Rameswaram, Palani, Kodaikanal, Madurai, and Pollachi.
Mr. Raghavan also requested the CEO to instruct railway officials to end the practice of not commencing services despite getting approval from the board. Earlier, the timetable committee had decided to extend the Bengaluru-Kannur Express to Kozhikode following his meetings with the General Managers of the Southern Railway and the South Western Railway, he said.
