The completion of the doubling of the section from Ernakulam to Kayamkulam via Kottayam and enhancing the terminal capacity can only solve the congestion faced in the railway network and step up the operational efficiency, Divisional Railway Manager, Rajiv Dutt Sharma, has said.
Mr. Sharma was speaking after unfurling the national flag at the Divisional headquarters at Thycaud here on Monday on the occasion of 65th Independence Day. Although doubling of Ernakulam-Mulanthruthi and Kayamkulam-Mavelikara has given a little relief, the section will get a breather only when the entire Ernakulum-Kayankulam section is doubled and commissioned.
The doubling between Kayamkulam and Haripad will be commissioned during this month. The early completion of the remaining works at Kochuveli coaching terminal, and setting up of one more terminal facility at Nemom and the proposed new coaching terminal at Kottayam can only improve the operational efficiency of the division.
Mr. Sharma said the railway electrification project in Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumary section is in advanced stage of completion and this is likely to be commissioned by November. The preliminary work of erecting the mast between Nagercoil and Tirunelveli has commenced.
The eight trains announced in the railway budget - Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Duronto Bi-weekly Express, Dibrugarh-Thiruvananthapuram Kanniyakumary Bi-weekly Vivek express, Nilambur Road-Thiruvananthapuram Rajya Rani Express, Chennai-Puduchery-Trichchirappalli-Madurai-Kanniyakumary-Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam-Chennai Janam Bhoomi Gaurav Express, Bhavnagar-Kochuveli weekly Express, Porbander-Kochuveli weekly Express, Bilaspur-Ernakulam Superfast weekly Express, Ernakulam-Kollam MEMU via Alappuzha and Kollam-Nagercoil MEMU--will be introduced in a phased manner.
Mr. Sharma said steps have been taken to improve passenger amenities, including development of Adarsh stations, provision of mullti-functional complexes, further expansion of Passenger Reservation system and Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS). The UTS facility has been provided in 80 railway stations and IUTS in 29 stations.
The IUTS facility at Murukumpuzha and Aralvaymozhi will be commissioned soon. With the completion of the IUTS/UTS facilities, he said Thiruvananthapuram railway division will be able to fulfill the ticketing needs through UTS/IUTS at all major and minor stations.
Stating that unmanned level crossings are a serious concern for the division, Mr. Sharma said the maximum numbers of unmanned level crossings are in the Kayankulam-Alappuzha–Ernakulam section. Out of the 21 unmanned level crossings to be manned, eight of them have put in to operation for manning and the remaining gates will be manned by first week of September.
The division carried 319.31 lakhs passengers in the current financial year up to July, he said. Earnings up to July is Rs 287.43 crore, which is 5.04 per cent more than the corresponding period of last year which include 7.66 per cent increase in passenger, 42.56 per cent in other coaching and 219 per cent in sundry earnings.
Due to the intensive marketing, the freight loading during the month of July touched 2,93,022 tonnes as against the target of 2,63,000 tonnes. The freight loading performance has registered a significant improvement of 11 per cent over the target and 5 per cent over the corresponding period of last year. During the month of July, the division achieved ticket checking earnings of Rs.31.09 lakhs.
Earlier, Mr. Sharma inspected the parade presented by the Railway Protection Force. Cultural programmes by the railway personnel and their children was another highlight.
