A ‘common agreed list’ is to be prepared by the Railways and the State for the cost-sharing projects to be executed in Kerala through the proposed special purpose vehicle.
Disclosing this at a press conference here on Saturday, Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Bajpai said the State and the Railways would have to put their heads together to prioritise the projects to be taken on cost-sharing basis.
Sabari rail to be included
To a query on whether only new projects will figure in the cost-sharing model, Mr. Bajpai said already sanctioned railway projects like the Sabari rail will be considered for inclusion.
The division has pressed 270 personnel for track maintenance and monitoring.
Half of the railway track in the busy Ernakulam-Alapppuzha-Kayamkulam stretch had been replaced.
To a query, he said fund crunch was not a hurdle for major projects taken up in the division now. Improved paid waiting halls had been proposed for Kollam, Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Thrissur.
Improvements in cleaning and upkeep of waiting halls involving private players are under process, he said detailing the new projects and amenities on the anvil.
Information system
LED-based train information system will be introduced by February at stations.
Emergency medical assistance booths with the assistance of reputed private hospitals will be set up at Nagercoil Junction, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Junction, and Thrissur.
An automated toll-free complaint and information management system to deal with grievances and complaints of passengers on real-time basis will also be introduced in the division.
The positive steps taken by the division has resulted in the growth in earnings as well in the number of passengers, he said.
Passenger patronage
There is an increase of 16.4 lakh passengers till November as compared to last year. The earnings of passenger business had gone up by Rs.72 crore (9.43 per cent) compared to last year’s which is more than the growth rate of Southern Railway and Indian Railways.
This is despite the fact that 424 services were cancelled due to various reasons such as Gujjar agitation, blaze at Ittarsi, Chennai floods and various maintenance blocks, he added.
Improved
paid waiting halls have been proposed for Kollam, Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Thrissur.
Sunil Bajpai, Divisional Railway Manager
