All eyes on the Union rail budget

Demands include increase in number of trains and track doubling

February 25, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:51 am IST - KOCHI:

With days before the presentation of the Union railway budget, passengers are going all out to make their demands heard.

Paul Manvettom, president, All Kerala Railway Users’ Association, called for the allocation of Rs. 500 crore for the completion of the track doubling works of the remaining 66 km of Ernakulam-Kottayam-Kayamkulam stretch and speeding up of the doubling works of the 101 km Ernakulam-Alappuzha-Kayamkulam stretch, of which only 13 km had been doubled so far. Increasing the frequency of MEMU services between Ernakulam and Kollam via Kottayam and Alappuzha, between Ernakulam and Palakkad and Ernakulam and Shornur, both via Thrissur, and Kollam and Nagercoil from six days to daily is another major demand, he siad.

'The list includes extension of train number 56389 between Ernakulam and Kottayam to Kollam, an additional daily train in the Thiruvananthapuram-Guwahati route to accommodate the large workforce from the north east, and electrification of Shornur-Mangalapuram route and introduction of Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) in the sector.

“Halt station should be allowed at Ponnurunni considering the significance of Vyttila mobility hub. It is high time that the Nedumbassery railway station, the foundation for which was laid five years ago, became a reality,” Mr. Manvettom said.

An Intercity express train between Ernakulam and Selam that leaves Ernakulam at 4.30 a.m. features in the list of demands for rail passengers.

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