THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Muralee Thummarukudy, the Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Environment Programme has again courted news for his astute predictions and this time, his views are circling around Vande Bharat trains. According to Muralee, Vande Bharat high-speed trains are the need of the hour in Kerala.

In a Facebook post, Muralee lashed out at earlier governments that shrewdly stymied all such high-speed rail initiatives just to mint more profits and push the general public into distress.

Muralee’s comment came in the wake of many people protesting about the distress they now encounter due to passenger trains being held for elite Vande Bharat to pass.

Facebook post :

Nobody expected Vande Bharat to run full in Kerala. However now, tickets are in waiting and there is a long queue to get inside this train. So, many among us have value for time and are ready to splash good money on something beneficial. Amidst this, some politicians have countered this high-speed rail project asking who will enter into these trains paying such money. In reality, this breed of politicians' are distancing away from the public, as they have no idea about what has changed in Kerala.

The value of people's time in Kerala and the need for dedicated lanes for high-speed trains is becoming more apparent day by day. If more Vande Bharat gets introduced in Kerala, more such protests will happen and other trains will be delayed. However, this never diminishes the fact that high-speed trains are the future of Kerala.