New Delhi: Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated a slew of initiatives in Kerala through video-conferencing from Rail Bhawan on August 19, 2017. Parallel functions were also held at Thiruvananthapuram Central station and Ernakulam Junction stations.
Highlights of initiatives taken in Kerala
1. Inauguration of AC paid waiting hall at 2 stations Thiruvananthapuram and Quilon in association with Kudumbasree.
2. Dedication to the Nation – foot over bridge at Kochuveli connecting both entry.
3. Dedication to the Nation – 10 concrete benches at Quilon Junction station funded by MP Shri Suresh Gopi through MPLAD.
4. Dedication to the Nation – doubling of Tiruvalla-Chenganasseri.
5. Inauguration of passenger lift at Chengannur Junction on Platform no.1.
6. Inauguration of one passenger lift at Ernakulam Junction on Platform no. 1 & 2 / 3 7. Dedication to the Nation – 4 Water Vending Machines at 3 stations of Thiruvananthapuram Division (Ernakulam Junction -1, Ernakulam Town-2 and Aluva-1).
8. Inauguration of 2 lifts at Kannur station on Platform no. 1, 2 / 3.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, “Indian Railways has been focussing on providing better passenger amenities & augmenting capacity. There has been a tremendous increase in the budget allocation for building Railway Infrastructure in states Kerala. Indian Railways is aiming at building better Railways for everyone by the participation of all.”
At Trivandrum Central Railway Station, Shri Kadakampalli Surendran, Minister for Devaswam & Cooperation, and Shri V S Shivakumar MLA attended the programme in the presence of Prakash Butani, DRM and Dr V C Sudheesh, Sr DRM.
Details of initiatives taken in Kerala
1) AC Paid waiting rooms with Kudumbasree: AC Paid waiting room at Trivandrum Central with a seating capacity of 48 passengers has been set up in association with Kudumbashree. At Kollam station also the facility is manned by Kudumbashree and the hall has a seating capacity of 40. A mini library, TV, washrooms and kids play zone are additional features of these AC waiting halls. An entry fee of Rs.25/hour is charged.
2) FOB at Kochuveli: A Foot Over Bridge at Kochuveli would alleviate the difficulty of commuters as they can access Platforms as well as both entries of the station. The FOB, constructed at a cost Rs. 2.5 crore, is the longest one in Kerala.
3) Double Line between Tiruvalla – Changansseri: Work on the double line between Tiruvalla-Changanasseri section of 7.94 km length completed and Line commissioned on 28-03-17. Two additional Lines with full rake unloading facility and a platform with 26 coach capacity were also commissioned along with the work at Tiruvalla.
4) Passenger lifts at Chengannur: Lifts are provided to assist the people with disability, the elderly, the women and the children among others.
5) Passenger lifts at Ernakulam Jn.: 2 lifts have been commissioned, at PF1 and PF2/3. Ernakulam and Chengannur lifts are commissioned at estimated cost of 37 lakhs.
Kerala Rail News