Those were the days when Rameswaram-bound pilgrims flocked the Palakkad Town railway station waiting for the passenger train which would chug along the narrow route that connects southern Tamil Nadu with the then British Malabar. On its journey, the train also connected other pilgrim centres like Erwadi, Madurai and Palani with Palakkad. On its return journey, the train would carry flowers, vegetables, and fish from the eastern coast. The scent of jasmine flowers brought from Madurai would fill the air at the station when the train comes back.
“The memories about the narrow gauge are inspiring. Annual pilgrimages to Rameswaram and Palani were inseparable parts of our existence,” recalls social activist Arumugan Pathichira of Muthalamada.
With the much-awaited gauge conversion between Palakkad and Pollachi turning into a reality and the inspection of the converted stretch by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) S. K. Mittal expected to take place soon, people of Palakkad are waiting eagerly for the resumption of the train services stopped seven years ago.
“We are excited about making the journey again on the same route,” says K.G. Kannadas of Govindapuram, who used to travel to Madurai in his childhood days in the passenger trains.
As being the railhead to travel to Rameswaram, the Palakkad Town station remains nostalgic not just for residents of the district but also for people from elsewhere. After the Palakkad-Pollachi stretch was closed down for widening, the station was used only to park Thiruvananthapuram-Palakkad Amrita Express during the day time.
According to railway authorities, the first train between Palakkad and Pollachi chugged along in 1898. The coal-powered trains used to carry goods between the two towns located at a
distance of 59 km. It was in 2008, the trains stopped their service after the gauge conversion was announced.
It had taken hardly two years for the Britishers to lay the narrow gauge and to build the stations. However, the conversion to broad gauge took more than seven years.
More services
There are indications that Thiruvananthapuram-Palakkad Amrita Express would be extended to Pollachi after the commissioning of the new broad-gauge route. Availability of sufficient pit lines at Pollachi station would help in extending the train up to Pollachi.
Railway sources have confirmed the operation of trains between Rameswaram and Palakkad connecting Madurai, Trichy and Palani.
“Before the train services were discontinued in this section in 2008, there were ten trains running in the section. Therefore, apart from these services, we need more trains in the section, The Pollachi-Tiruchendur train should be extended to Palakkad,” say E. Murugan, president of Kollengode Rail Passenger Association. The Madurai-Pollachi train can also be extended to Palakkad, he feels. Passenger associations here also hope that the Pollachi-Chennai Central train would be extended to Palakkad.
