The Palakkad Railway Division on Wednesday celebrated 67th Railway Week at its headquarters in Palakkad where 206 individual awards and 12 group awards were presented for their outstanding performance by Divisional Railway Manager Trilok Kothari.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kothari said the IMS-certified Mangaluru – Thiruvananthapuram Maveli Express maintained by Mangaluru Central Coaching Depot was awarded the best-maintained Train in Southern Railway based on impeccable cleanliness of coaches, maintaining high safety standards during maintenance, and conforming to all specified passenger amenities.
The new pit line at Mangaluru Central Station, Mr. Kothari said was in final stages of construction. In a few days, the Division would start stabling train rakes at the new line that could cater to 24 coaches. Completion of the new pit line would help taking up construction of Platforms 4 and 5 in the Station, he added.
The DRM said the Division earned Rs. 926.91 crore earned during 2021-22 thereby surpassing the target of Rs. 687.78 crore by 33.69%. It carried 235.65 lakh passengers during the year, thus surpassing the target of 110 lakh, by more than 114%.
Work for extension of existing 8 coach pit line at Palakkad to 12 coach pit line for maintenance of MEMU rake has already started. Along with this, one more pit line for 8 coach MEMU rake would be constructed. This helps the Division in replacing short distance passenger trains with MEMU rakes, thereby reducing travelling time and providing better comfort to passengers.
Cultural programmes were staged by staff members of Palakkad Division after the award distribution. Additional DRMs R. Raghuraman and Sakkeer Hussain, Southern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation President Diyadeva Kothari and others were present.
