COIMBATORE: Passengers have demanded Southern Railway to extend Deepavali special train operated between Coimbatore and Dindigul till this month end for the convenience of a large number of devotees visiting Murugan temple in Palani for ‘Skanda Sashti Kavacham’ festival.
The railways operated the special train between Coimbatore and Dindigul for four days till November 4 to clear extra rush during Deepavali.
The train (06077) departed Coimbatore junction at 9.20 am and reached Dindigul at 1pm. And, the return train (06078) departed from Dindigul at 2pm and reached Coimbatore at 5.30 pm.
This train received good patronage from the public during the festival holidays. With the start of ‘Skanda Sashti’ festival in Lord Murugan temple in Palani, a large crowd of devotees are expected to visit the shrine in the coming days. Crowds continue to throng the temple all through this month.
“The continuance of the train will be of immense help to passengers as devotees also visit the shrine also for ‘soorasamharam’ and ‘karthigai deepam’ festivals in this month. Therefore, the railways should consider extending the train till this month end,” said C Balasubramanian and K Jayaraj, both members of Zonal Railway Users Committee (ZRUCC) of Southern Railways.
They also claimed that the train facility will be of immense use for passengers from Southern districts to visit Lord Murugan temple in Marudamalai in Coimbatore. In this regard, the ZRUCC members have shot off a letter to RN Singh, General Manager of Southern Railways.