A crucial bottleneck of railway line at the interchanging point between the Southern Railway and Konkan Railway in Mangaluru area would be removed after doubling work on the 19 km Mangaluru Junction-Panambur section gets completed, said Anand Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager, SR, Palakkad Division, here on Saturday.
Speaking after hoisting the tricolour at the Divisional Headquarters in Palakkad on Saturday, Mr. Prakash said 6 km of the line between Jokatte and Panambur would get completed before March 2016. While the rail electrification work between Kozhikode and Kannur was likely to get completed by this December, that of between Kannur and Mangaluru was progressing rapidly, he said.
Earlier, he inspected the guard of honour after hoisting the flag. After the parade, the RPF trained dogs exhibited their sniffing proficiency and also demonstrated various acrobatics. Cultural programmes of Railway staff and their wards marked the conclusion of the celebrations. The DRM said the overall earnings of Palakkad Division are going on par with that of the previous year. The division’s earnings during the first four months of the financial year was Rs.374.86 crore, of which Rs.207.57 crore accounted for passenger earnings, Rs.145.68 crore towards goods earnings, Rs. 12.58 crore for other coaching earnings and Rs.9.03 crore towards sundry earnings.
Mr. Prakash said the work on gauge conversion on Palakkad-Pollachi section (55 km) is almost complete and inspection by the commissioner of Railway Safety is awaited. Once commissioned, the Palakkad-Pollachi-Palani-Dindigul stretch would provide alternative link to the rail network in South Tamil Nadu, he said. He appreciated the achievements of Tintu Luka, Reservation Supervisor, Kozhikode, in the Asian Track and Field Championship held in China.
