Train travel in Kerala has become difficult due to many reasons. The most important of which is the late running of trains. Another is the overcrowding experienced in the general compartments. Increasing the number of general compartments can easily solve this problem. However, Railways will not do that and this will be avoided by making many excuses. The misery of those travelling by taking tickets will continue as well. The Ernakulam District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission's order to pay Rs 50,000 compensation and Rs 10,000 court costs for the 13-hour delay of the train will generally be welcomed by train passengers because they actually have to go through that much suffering.

The notable award of compensation is in a petition filed by Karthik Mohanan, a deputy manager in a private company. The petitioner pointed out that he came to know that the train would be delayed by 13 hours only when he reached the Ernakulam station and therefore he could not attend the important meeting of the company held in Chennai. It was brought to the attention of the commission that the students appearing for the NEET exam also faced difficulties. The railway gave a strange reply that it was not possible to take precautionary measures because the petitioner had not informed the purpose of the journey in advance. Railways do not need to know why a person is going to a place. Railways should have shown the minimum responsibility of notifying the passenger who has booked the ticket through a text message on the phone if the train is delayed by several hours. The Commission has assessed that the reason for the delay of the train was that the reconstruction of the railway yard was going on, and the railway could have informed the passengers about this in advance.

It can be said that there are no people in Kerala who travel by train without taking a ticket. Kerala is ahead of other states in terms of number of passengers and revenue. There is no other state like Kerala where Vandebharat gets so many bookings. If one wants to travel to Delhi and other places, he has to book tickets months in advance. However, the officials in the railway are treating Kerala without taking any of this into consideration. When passenger trains were renamed to Express, the ticket prices were hiked without making any other changes. The number of AC coaches has been increased and the number of general coaches has been decreased. Malabar region trains are suffocatingly crowded in general compartments. There was also an incident where six passengers fainted due to the rush. Passengers assume that Vandebharat is the cause of holding up carriages mid-journey. However, the Railways gave an explanation that the schedule of other trains has not been changed for Vandebharat. They also said that the speed of Venad Express has been increased.

According to the Railways, heavy rains and floods at Kochuveli station have disrupted the schedule of some trains. In any case, the experience of those who travel by train is that many trains run late due to hold-ups along the route. Urgent action is needed to increase the number of coaches in the trains.