Not even Kerala CM free from bane of train delay; Pinarayi Vijayan waited for 30 minutes at railway station to return to Thiruvananthapuram.

KOCHI: After attending the inauguration ceremonies, the Chief Minister had to wait for half an hour in Ernakulam on the railway station platform and in the train to return to Thiruvananthapuram. CM left for the capital in the New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Kerala Express after attending the inauguration ceremony of the water metro boat jetties and the closing ceremony of the police cyber security conference.

The Chief Minister reached platform number two at Ernakulam North Station at 4.46 pm. The train had left Edappally Station by then. The Chief Minister sat on a chair near the small entrance of platform number two until the train arrived at 4.53 pm, three minutes late. CPM District Secretary S Satheesh was with him.

Although the Kerala Express has only a five-minute stop at the station, it left only at 5.16 yesterday, 23 minutes later. It took 15 minutes to unload and load the goods from the luggage cum brake van. The signal clearance also took time as the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity passed through the main line in the meantime. A police team led by Kochi City Assistant Police Commissioner P Rajkumar and Ernakulam Railway DySP George Joseph remained on the platform until the train left the station.