THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rail passengers had a harrowing time on Friday with trains being held up at several stations reportedly to facilitate maintenance works being carried out in view of the visit of Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi to attend a meeting of the MPs here on Monday.The worst sufferers were short-distance commuters. The long-distance travellerscoming to the city also bore the brunt with their trains being held up for long time at Kochuveli station. The scorching heat made things worse for the women and young children who remained stuffed in the compartments.However, the Railway authorities maintained that there was nothing unusual in the halt of trains at various stations. It was to fecilitate the movement of Rajadhani Express trains as it was a Friday, they said. Trains were held up in between Pettah and Thiruvananthapuram Central owing to the saturated capacities.“Only a train terminal at Nemom and augmentation of facilities at Kochuveli can ease the pressure on train traffic movement in the Central station,’’ said P Narayanan, senior public relations officer, Thiruvanantahpuram Division. 78 trains move in and out of Thiruvananthapuram Division now, he said. The Division is spread from Cheruthuruthi, near Shoranur, up to the outskirts of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.Similarly, the woes of long-distance travellers crossing the Kozhikode-Palakkad sector doubled for want of eatables and drinking water in the compartments, as licensed vendors are insufficient to meet their demand.Unlicensed vendors, who were catering to their needs, pulled out after they were banned from entring the station premises.The LDF agitation and protests against petrol price hike at various places on Friday also added to the misery of the passengers. Sabari Express and Garibrath were blocked at Kollam railway station and a few other trains at some other stations in the evening.
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