Memu train takes commuters for ride!

[1]

Kochi: The announcement could be heard all over the Ernakulam South station: The Kollam-bound Memu via Alappuzha was stationed at platform No: 4. But commuters failed to spot the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit train and worse still, the one stationed there carried the ‘destination board’ — Kollam-Madurai.
It’s been chaos for commuters for the past two weeks as the authorities have deployed Kollam-Madurai passenger coaches instead of the Memu train which was taken to Perambur coach factory, Chennai, for fixing a “technical problem.”
“They could have at least pasted a temporary destination board so that passengers wouldn’t be so confused, especially when the train halts at small stations like Aroor,” said Anil Kumar, a native of Cherthala and a regular passenger.
“The Memu rake would take another month to be deployed back. There’s been a technical fault. So we thought it would be a good idea to deploy the Kollam-Madurai rake which had been lying idle all through the day. It leaves for Madurai from Kollam at 6.10 pm only if it comes to the station at 8 am,” a railway official said.
However, passengers are not complaining. Except for the destination board, the train has cushioned seats and well-maintained coaches and first class compartments. “Who wouldn’t want to travel in an AC rake from Ernakulam to Kollam for Rs 20?” asked Gipson Arackal,  another regular passenger.