The Kanyakumari District Railway Users' Association (KDRUA) has demanded extension of 22869/22870 and 22802/22801 running between Chennai Central and Visakhapatnam to Kanyakumari for the benefit of passengers from Kanyakumari and other districts in Tamil Nadu.
Reacting to the demand of the Andhra Pradesh Consortium of Malayalee Associations (ACMA) on extension of the 18567/18568 Visakhapatnam-Kollam Express, which appeared in this column on December 8, KDRUA secretary P. Edward Jeni noted that while there was a great demand for trains between Kanyakumari and Visakhapatnam as observed by ACMA, the KDRUA was opposed to the extension of 18567/18568 weekly to Kanyakumari.
This was because it was a circuitous route and it would take more travel time and fare. There would also be the problem of getting reservation on this train. He sought extension of one of the Visakhapatnam – Chennai Central trains up to Kanyakumari.
Mr. Jeni noted that Chennai- Madurai - Kanniyakumari is a highly patronised and top revenue-generating Section of Southern Railway, with large volume of passengers, of the Southern Railway.
By extending any one Chennai - Visakhapatnam train, the people of Southern Part of Tamil Nadu (like Madurai, Tiruchchirappalli) have direct connectivity to Visakhapatnam apart from earning more revenue to the Railways.
KDRUA demanded an early action on the issue and inclusion in the forthcoming railway timetable.
SpiceJet has opened bookings for its second flight from Visakhapatnam to Chennai with effect from April 16.
The airline is already operating a 72-seater ATR from Visakhapatnam to Chennai and now wants to operate an Airbus in view of the high demand on the route. When contacted, Airport Director Vinod Sharma said that they were yet to get a confirmation on the date of operation of the second flight to Chennai by SpiceJet.
Prepaid taxis, operating from Visakhapatnam Airport, are the most unreliable when it comes to availability and at fleecing passengers, says Capt (retd) Nadimpalli Sitaram of Vizag, who landed at the airport when he came from Chennai last week.
“As soon as I boarded a prepaid taxi, the driver asked me: ‘Sir, shall I switch on the AC?’ He went on and said that AC would cost an additional Rs.100 above the normal fare. He asked an additional Rs.55 for parking at the airport,” he says.
“The prepaid taxi fare from the Airport to Beach Road at YMCA was fixed at Rs.400 but I had to shell out an additional Rs.100. During my last visit, I had booked a cab on the Uber app and he charged me only Rs.190. I do not mind paying Rs.400 but the additional charges in the name of AC or parking charges is nothing but fleecing passengers.”
As Visakhapatnam is an international airport, tourists and international passengers, such behaviour on the part of drivers would reflect badly on the culture of the city.
