The PMK on Monday demanded that train services on important rail routes should not be stopped in Tamil Nadu, citing lack of revenue. In a statement, its founder S. Ramadoss said that the Railway Board’s recommendation to various other Railways departments in India to reconsider stopping routes that are struggling to rake in revenue had the potential to completely change railway routes in Tamil Nadu.
“This should be condemned. As per this recommendation, Chennai-Madurai, Chennai-Tirunelveli, Chennai-Thoothukudi, Chennai-Nagercoil and Chennai-Bengaluru are some of the rail routes that are profitable. Other routes do not rake in that much revenue. If services on other routes are stopped, many trains and train routes will have to be stopped,” he said. Due to the move, Mayiladuthurai, Mannargudi, Manamadurai, Rameswaram, Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Kumbakonam, Bodinayakkanur, Usilampatti and Tiruvannamalai cities will lose their train services and it will affect the people there, he said.
“In a country, not all routes can be profitable. This is true even in the most developed countries such as the United States. Plying trains should be seen as a service, instead of a means to earn income. It is not possible to retain the main routes and stop the branch routes,” he said.
The Railway Board should give up the idea of shutting down non-profitable routes and improve the rail infrastructure and increase its services.
