Kannur: There is no end to the travel travails of rail commuters in the Malabar region as inadequate services have left peak hour trains like Parasuram Express extremely crowded. Instances of passengers collapsing and authorities forcefully evicting commuters from the overcrowded trains are on the rise. The other day, certain lady passengers complained they were forced to deboard with only a couple of minutes to go for Parasuram Express to depart from Vadakara station.

The Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and the police took action, compromising passenger safety, when the commuters boarded a reservation compartment after they failed to enter the jam-packed lady’s compartment. The officials even didn’t heed their request to let them travel at least to the next station and “forcefully evicted them there and then.” Travel woes have become acute in the Kannur-Shornur region for the past few months. Parasuram Express is running at full capacity in both directions, with no space for passengers even to stand. On Monday, two female students fainted after excessive crowding on the train led to poor ventilation and discomfort. The students had boarded from Vadakara and Koyilandy respectively and were travelling to Kozhikode.

One of them collapsed when the train was stationed at Thikkodi for half an hour to facilitate the passage of Vande Bharat. The second one felt unwell when the train was passing through the Koyilandy-Kozhikode section. Co-passengers gave primary treatment and took good care of both the students till the train reached Kozhikode. It reached there an hour behind schedule after it was halted at Thikkodi for half an hour. Nearly 20 rail passengers have felt unwell similarly in the last two months while travelling in overcrowded trains. The Human Rights Commission registered a suo motu case and sent a notice to the railways, asking them why they failed to prioritize passenger safety.

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