The railway ministry's decision to give additional halts to Duronto trains, which till now ran from point to point, has raised the hackles of several members of the Malayalee community in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. They are sore at the ministry's decision to halt the 12223 LTT-Ernakulam Duronto Express at Ratnagiri, Madgaon, Mangalore and Kozhikode but not at Thane and Panvel.

The demand to provide halts at Thane and Panvel for the Kerala-bound Duronto is an old one, with passenger associations, such as the All-Thane Malayalee Association (ATMA), having fought for it since 2013. In fact, in a felicitation ceremony for railway minister Suresh Prabhu this January, ATMA functionaries claimed to have got an assurance from Prabhu over getting a halt at Thane for the train.

Sashikumar Nair of the ATMA said, "The railways says these halts are provided as per surveys conducted by them. I don't know what methodology the railways uses for these surveys. We want to know what purpose do the halts at Ratnagiri and Madgaon serve for a Kerala-bound train. In fact, if the railways had provided a halt at Thane and Panvel, it would have been benefited by way of revenue. Also, the hardship faced by passengers, having to go all the way to LTT during the return journey, would have reduced."

According to Nair, the ATMA has been demanding that the train be given halts at Thane, Panvel, Kannur, Kozikode, Shoranur and Trichur since long. "This would have benefitted thousands of Malayalees and also others, mostly tourists, who travel to Kerala from Mumbai. The railways has missed an opportunity to make the train profitable for itself and comfortable for the passengers," said Nair.

He added that ATMA members have decided to debate and discuss the issue in their annual general meeting, to be held on September 5, and decided the further course of action based on the consensus arrived at.

A top railway official told dna that the ministry has taken a pragmatic decision by providing additional halts to several Duronto trains. "It will increase revenue. As far as demands for halt A instead of B is concerned, it is an endless tussle. The only way out is to study travel patterns every now and then and juggle the halts accordingly," the official said.