Initially, it was reported that the train would run from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur. It was also said that it would stop at Tirur.
Vande Bharat express (RailMinIndia/ Twitter)
A PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to ensure that the Vande Bharat Express train stopped at the Tirur railway station in Kerala was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday, 17 July, which said this fell under the policy domain of the government.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra refused to entertain the plea filed by one PT Sheejish.
“You want Vande Bharat to stop at Tirur. We will not tell them (the government). This falls under the policy domain of the executive. Dismissed,” the bench said.
It also refused to permit the plea to be filed as a representation to the Railways authorities, saying this would mean that “we saw some merits in your submissions”.
Tirur is a major railway station in the Malappuram district of Kerala and falls under the administrative domain of Southern Railways.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vandhe Bharat Express train running between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod on 25 April.
Initially, it was reported that the train would run from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur. It was also said that there would be a stop at Tirur.
However, when the official schedule was released the stop in Tirur was cancelled and the service got extended to Kasaragod.
It is believed that the route was extended after the uproar from the people of the state since the initial route ignored the northernmost district of the state, Kasaragod.
Following the announcement of the service, in a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on 16 April, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly VD Satheesan sought the route extension to ensure “overall high-speed railway connectivity in the state”.
Satheesan said that as per media reports, the existing route of the proposed Vande Bharat Express was from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur, leaving out the northernmost district of Kasaragod.
“Please note that Kasaragod forms part of the existing railway system in the state and could have been seamlessly incorporated into the existing route of the Vande Bharat Express without much pain. Leaving out the northern district of Kasaragod is considered a grave injustice to the people of Kasaragod,” the LoP said.
Satheesan also pointed out that Kasaragod was a district in Kerala that had limited railway access, and that much more needed to be done to bring it up to par with other districts in the state.
On 18 April, Vaishnaw announced the extension of the service to Kasaragod. However, he said that the decision to extend the service was taken following a request from Union Minister for State V Muraleedharan.
(With PTI inputs)
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