The Hindu Business Line : Kerala CM offers all help in completing railway projects

The Chief Minister, Mr V. S. Achuthanandan, has assured the Southern Railway management that the State Government will provide all co-operation to settle outstanding issues that impede the development of railway infrastructure.

He conveyed this assurance to the General Manager, Southern Railway, Mr Thomas Varghese, who called on him at his chamber here. Mr S. Vijayakumaran, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram, was also present.

Projects

A Southern Railway spokesman listed some of the important projects on which assistance of the State Government sought as: finalisation of alignment for rail connectivity to Vallarpadam International Container Terminal; sparing of land for improving access points to Thiruvananthapuram Central Station and for building a new reservation office; land acquisition and alignment for Guruvayur-Tanur line; acquisition for Shoranur-Mangalore and Kayankulam-Chengannur doubling works; and allocation of power to feeder stations at Chingavanam and Kazhakkuttam.

Mr Varghese said that an amount of Rs 22 crore has been granted in the Railways supplementary budget to develop the Kochuveli station in the outskirts of the city. He requested the Chief Minister for help to develop badly needed passenger facilities such as a bus stand, an autorickshaw stand and other conveyance systems at the new station.

Ticket Vending Machine

He informed the Chief Minister that Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned for setting up additional passenger amenities in the State. Eight road overbridges will be completed during this financial year.

The General Manager commissioned an intelligent automatic ticket vending machine at Thiruvananthapuram Central, installed at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh. The multi ticket vending machine is expected to reduce the pressure at the booking counter and cut short serpentine queue during rush hours.