Railways should take up doubling of the congested Thiruvananthapuram- Nagercoil section in the light of the proposed international container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam, Sashi Tharoor, MP, has said.
Reviewing the rail development works in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency at a meeting at the divisional railway headquarters here on Saturday, Dr. Tharoor said the railway medical college sanctioned in last year's rail budget should be housed either at Thiruvananthapuram or Parassala, where land was available with the Railways.
Parasuram Express
Dr. Tharoor said he would take up with the Railway Board the demand to extend Parasuram Express to Nagercoil for the benefit of passengers, especially office-goers and students, commuting daily from the Kerala- Tamil Nadu border to the State capital.
The MP said he would take the initiative to get additional funds for the second phase development of the Kochuveli coaching terminal.
Ticket vending machine
Dr. Tharoor suggested that the division railway authorities install an automatic ticket vending machine at the Thiruvananathapuram Central station to mitigate the hardships faced by passengers in purchasing train and platform tickets.
Earlier, Divisional Railway Manager Rajiv Dutt Sharma welcomed the MP and lauded the initiative taken by him at the Ministry level for the rail development works in his constituency.
Constraints
The constraints faced by the division in improving the infrastructure at the Thiruvananthapuram Central station were brought to the notice of the MP by the railway authorities.