With the lifting of Covid curbs one by one, the traffic is almost back to normal. But the railways have not restored general tickets and coaches without reservations for night journeys. Following Covid outbreak, many restrictions were imposed and many concessions were withdrawn. One of the most important of these was the discounted ticket prices for senior citizens. But the railways have announced that have stopped this forever. Union Railway Minister informed Parliament that this concession can no longer be allowed. The railways are ignoring the widespread protests following the announcement.

During the pandemic period, the revenue of many sections was low but the revenue of the railways did not fall sharply. Railways' revenue was boosted by freight traffic and by making reservations mandatory even for short journeys. Although all transport services were normal, the Railways were initially reluctant to restore season ticket travel and general coaches. The general compartments were restored during the daytime when protests against this arose. With general compartments for night travel not being restored, the 'Covid reforms' are still in effect. Passengers rushing in at the last minute have to lie on platforms and other places as they cannot get tickets at night. This makes it very difficult for many patients who want to get to the hospital in distant places in the morning. There are no general tickets or unreserved coaches on the busy Amritha, Mangalore Express and Nilambur Express from Kochuveli, which leave Thiruvananthapuram at night. These trains are relied upon by the poorest patients coming from the Malabar region for follow-up treatment at RCC and Sree Chitra. Complaints are also being raised that general compartments are not provided on all trains, even during daylight hours. At the same time, everything has been brought back to normal in Tamil Nadu. The political leadership and MPs here have not yet reacted significantly to this.

Even at the meeting of MPs convened by the Chief Minister yesterday, no suggestion was raised from anyone to provide more travel facilities on night trains. Therefore, the state government should take immediate steps to bring such issues to the notice of the Railway Board. The railways should be doing all this on their own. Unfortunately, the heads of the railways are working with the evil intention of turning the Covid pandemic into an opportunity. Allowing this will empower them to come forward with many anti-people measures in the future. A change could be brought about through the intervention of the state government.