Intercity Express: Rail users demand extension to Thiruvananthapuram

MADURAI: After railways announced extending Chennai Egmore-Manamadurai Biweekly Silambu Express till Sengottai — though kept it pending till further announcement — the move has made rail users from Kanniyakumari district reiterating their long pending demand of extending Tirunelveli-Trichy Intercity Express till Thiruvananthapuram city.
The rail users from Kanniyakumari district, have been demanding the extension on grounds that there are no daytime trains in the section beyond Tirunelveli.Hundreds of people from the district travel towards Tirunelveli and Madurai on various purposes.
As the Madurai bench of Madras high court is situated here, a good number of legal fraternity also have to travel to Madurai. In return direction, there is a lot of movement of goods and people from the southern districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Virudhunagar towards Kerala. With Sengottai-Punalur section under gauge conversion, Nagercoil section is the only rail route connecting Southern Tamil Nadu with Kerala, the rail users pointed out.
If the Tiruchirapalli-Tirunelveli Intercity is extended to Thiruvananthapuram, it will be a convenient train to travel to Madurai and Trichy. Moreover, there are no train services between Kanyakumari district and Tirunelveli/Madurai for a larger part of the day — 10 hours in both directions — and the extension can bridge this gap, according to Kanniyakumari District Rail Users Association.
Tirunelveli-Trichy Intercity train is a boon for travellers from Tiruchirapalli and Madurai to southern Tamil Nadu except Kanniyakumari district. If the train is extended to Thiruvananthapuram, it will be helpful for Kanniyakumari district merchants to obtain goods from Virudhunagar, Madurai and Trichy markets said Karungal George, president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce, Kanniyakumari district branch.