The Hindu Business Line : Rlys to fuse growth map with State plan

THE Thiruvananthapuram Division of Southern Railway has proposed a regulated growth regime for the next 25 years through pooling of capital, and dovetailing it with the State's own infrastructural plans.

Senior officials of the Thiruvananthapuram Division will meet with the Chief Secretary on Friday and discuss ways to integrate its growth plan with the State's, according to Dr G. Narayanan, Divisional Railway Manager. The Chief Secretary is expected to spell out the developmental requirements of the State at the meeting.

Addressing newspersons here on the Division's silver jubilee celebrations that will be kicked off on Thursday, Dr Narayanan said integrated planning would yield major gains given that a slew of mega infrastructural projects have been approved for the State recently.

The Railways will seek to find ways to dovetail its growth plans with those of the State's, which straddled ports, power and surface transport, among other sectors. Linkages with backward areas hitherto non-linked districts such as Idukki will also be explored.

Vision document: "Pooling of resources will have far reaching consequences. The rail is four times energy-efficient than the road," Dr Narayanan said. The Division is working out Vision 2005-30, a development plan for the next 25 years that draws on a review of the best of the past 25 years. It will be the first such document to be prepared by any Railway Division in the country.

The new linkages planned are expected to reverse the steep declines in freight carriage earnings realised from the State - from Rs 252 crore in 2000-01 to Rs 126 crore in 2003-04, Dr Narayanan said.

Suburban corridor: The Division is also keeping `live' the prospects of setting up a separate suburban corridor for Thiruvananthapuram, which, it hoped, would enable it to handle the variously conflicting and strident demands of the suburban commuters and long-distance travellers.

The Division also proposed to commission popular actor Mohan Lal in a short film being developed to counsel road users on how to negotiate unmanned and manned crossings. The film would be screened at the level crossings.

Tourist coaches: The Division also has plans to attach specially fabricated, fully transparent, polycarbonate glass-like AC coaches to important trains for luring tourist traffic into the State.

These coaches will be transparent on the roof and sides, helping travellers to savour the beauty of the countryside. The Division already has the facilities to build these coaches. Some of them are already being used for inspection missions along the track.