The Hindu : Front Page : Railway zone for State still a far cry

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Friday, Feb 13, 2009
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Railway zone for State still a far cry

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State may lose out this time too in its bid for an exclusive railway zone.

With the State lacking the political clout, an exclusive railway zone is unlikely to see the light in the Railway Budget to be presented by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday.

The route km in Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions had come down to 1,212 km with the creation of the Salem division. “But it is not a major factor and a zone can be created either by including Konkan, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram or by bifurcating the Southern Railway and creating a zone with Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad,” a top railway official said.

It has been pointed out that the Hubli-based South Western Railway created by including Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli divisions on similar lines is now the ‘blue chip’ of the railways,

The lobbying needed for such a zone is yet to come from the State government’s side, people’s representatives and political parties. The meeting convened by Minister for Law and Railways M. Vijayakumar to list the State’s priorities on railway projects was attended by just six MPs.

“Sanctioning of stoppages, new coaches and trains, survey of new lines and metro railway are all based on the recommendations of the zonal railways. The zonal railways enjoy absolute power in this regard and the State’s priority should be to somehow get an exclusive railway zone,” the official said.

“The frequent transfer of the Chief Engineer (Construction), lack of financial powers and his frequent shuttling between Chennai and the State have affected development works, including doubling and rail over bridges,” he said.

The Southern Railway had also not given any report to the Railway Board for acquiring land at Nemom to make it an operating centre for trains from the capital. No work had been done for the rail connectivity for the proposed Vizhinjam international transhipment container terminal. The zonal railways are yet to act on the world class station at the Thiruvananthapuram central station.

Although some work had been done for setting up a shed for the Mainline Electric Multiple Unit in Kollam and Palakkad, the zonal railways are yet to commence survey for acquiring land for the two dedicated lines for the suburban services.

Other priorities of the State are more trains to Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and north-eastern regions and creating passenger amenities in stations.

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