New Delhi: Railways Minister, Shri Ashwini Vaishnav today informed that for the current financial year, Kerala has been allocated a rail budget of Rs. 3,011 crores for the development of railway infrastructure and this time, compared to the Rs 372 crore allocated during the UPA government, the amount allocated to Kerala is eight times more. He also added that funds are not an obstacle to railway development in Kerala. He was speaking at an online press conference about the railway budget.
The minister said that apart from the existing proposed Angamali-Erumeli route for the Sabari rail project, the survey of the newly considered Chengannur-Pamba route is in progress and after the completion of the survey process, an appropriate decision regarding the route will be taken.
The Railway Minister also added that the Center expects the cooperation of the states in the development of railways based on cooperative federalism. While 465 hectares of land is required for railway development in Kerala, only 62 hectares of land is available so far. At the same time, the Minister said that the work of doubling the roads in the state is progressing rapidly. The minister said that as part of increasing the number of general coaches, 2,500 additional general coaches have been built this year and 10,000 coaches will be built in the coming years. The minister rejected the allegations that when new trains come, old services are affected and loco pilots are not given enough rest.
In Kerala, in the last 10 years, the daily average electrification of railway lines increased to 49km compared to 10 km during 2009-14. He said that 106 Railway overbridges and under-bridges have been constructed in the State since 2014 and 35 railway stations including Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kollam, Guruvayur, Thrissur, Punalur, Chalakudy, Kozhikode and Alappuzha will be upgraded as Amrita Bharat Railway Stations.
Dr Manish Thaplyal, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram informed that the division has achieved a speed increase of 20% for freight trains, an increase in passenger earnings by 12%, and is making rapid progress in completing the redevelopment of 15 stations under Amrit Station scheme in the current year, Major redevelopment work will come up at Thiruvananthapuram Central and Varkala stations. Modern signalling is sanctioned for the Vallathol Nagar – Ernakulam section.
He said that the work to increase the speed by filling the bends of the road, which does not require land acquisition, is going on in the state and through this the current speed of 90-100 kmph can be increased to 110 kmph. He said that the electrification of railways in the state has been completed and an automatic signalling system will be implemented from Shornur to Ernakulam. He said that works including doubling of tracks are progressing fast and railways are carrying out activities focused on passengers in connection with railway development in the state.
He said that the Railways is carrying out effective garbage disposal operations in the matter related to Amaizhanchan canal and the process of compensation for the deceased sanitation worker is in progress.