Coaches leaking water & dirty toilets: Passengers rail at poor upkeep of trains

WITH 11 entries, Kerala featured prominently in the list of Southern Railway's top 25 stations with highest originating passenger revenue in fiscal 2023-24, with Thiruvananthapuram Central, which posted ₹262 crore, ranked fourth.

- ANU KURUVILLA @Kochi

However, if accounts of lack of cleanliness and poor maintenance of coaches narrated by passengers are to be believed, these proceeds are not translating into facilities on board trains.

The other day, former finance minister Thomas Isaac wrote about the poor condition of the coaches of Jan Shatabdi express that he had recently travelled in. He also posted a picture of water seepage in his compartment, with the caption: "When Jan Shatabdi reached Kollam, it was raining. But the rain did not persist. But look at the water in the D6 compartment! How are such special coaches selected and sent to Kerala?"