Bharathiyar Memorial Trust, Kovilpatti, has demanded that as a mark of respect to Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramaniya Bharati the railway authorities should introduce an express train, in the name ‘Bharati Express,’ from Tuticorin to New Delhi via Ettayapuram and Kovilpatti.
Trust founder P. Muthu Murugan said here on Tuesday that the survey for a new railway line from Madurai to Tuticorin via Aruppukottai and Vilathikulam, which was under way, should be expedited.
A memorandum was submitted to Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay, seeking his intervention to introduce the facility at the earliest.
Mr Muthu Murugan said a lot of people from Tuticorin district were in New Delhi for business, education and employment. Moreover, several traders from New Delhi were coming to Ettayapuram to purchase safety matches from wholesale suppliers.
But, the people of Tuticorin had to go to Chennai to board a New Delhi-bound train. The only train (Tirukkural Express) plying between Kanyakumari and Nizamuddin once in a week was not sufficient to accommodate the passengers from Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin. If the new train route and the express train were introduced, it would be a boon to the entire southern region, he said.
M. Piramanayagam, secretary, Tuticorin District Passengers’ Welfare Association, said they had demanded railway officials to introduce long-distance trains to New Delhi, Mumbai, Mangalore and Howrah from Tuticorin several times. Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Madurai could be extended to Tuticorin. Similarly, the authorities could also explore the possibility of extending the weekly train service from Howrah to Tiruchi to Tuticorin, he added.
