Citizens in Mumbai, who wants to attend the annual festival at Vailankanni Church in Tamil Nadu, want a train to take them to the festival and ferry them back. Around 40,000 in Mumbai have asked the Central Railway (CR) to provide the train service from Mumbai to Nagapattinam on August 26-27 and another for the return journey on September 9-10.

Nagapattinum is the railway station nearest to Vailankanni, 11 kilometres away.

The CR authorities say they are actively considering the demand while devotees say the CR has not yet given them a positive response.

Charlie Rosario, a member of the Vailankanni Pilgrims Association (VPA), said, “Due to non-availability of a proper train service, pilgrims have to face problems in reaching the shrine. There is a demand from devotees for direct trains from Mumbai to Nagapattinam until the Vailankanni railway line is completed, as Nagapattinam Railway Station is only 11 km from the shrine. Our demand is being ignored by the CR.”

Incidentally, a project is under way to connect Vailankanni with the railway network.

On the request of devotees, Congress leader Gurudas Kamat had written to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to provide a Mumbai-Nagapattinam train on August 26-27 and a train back to Mumbai on September 9-10. The VPA has also forwarded a petition to the Railway Minister and senior railway officers requesting a special train for the festival.

Recently, train services were provided from Mumbai to Pandharpur and Madgaon for Hindu pilgrims. Leslie Carvalho, a VPA member said, “So why can’t they give us a special train to Nagapattinam? This is injustice.”

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