Green signal for coaching terminal

Southern Railway approves plan for Nemom, asks officer to float tenders to begin work

Railways have got the green signal to begin the Phase I work on the proposed coaching terminal at Nemom, utilising the 12.14 hectares of land in their possession and without waiting for the remaining land to be acquired by the State for the project.

A sum of ₹77.3 crore has been set aside in the 2018-19 Budget for Phase I work of the coaching terminal.

Plan approved

“The Southern Railway has approved the plan and the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Ernakulam, had been asked to float tenders to begin work in the land with us,” Divisional Railway Manager Shirish Kumar Sinha told The Hindu .

The move to lay the foundation stone ahead of the Lok Sabha polls comes in the backdrop of the hurdles in acquiring the 15 hectares of land needed on the six-km Thiruvananthapuram Central-Nemom stretch for track-doubling and the terminal.

‘Review land cost’

“The State is asking for ₹600 crore for land acquisition and our assessment is that it will cost only ₹250 crore. The State has agreed to our request to review it as we had pointed out that the price fixed is on a par with that finalised for acquiring land for airport development,” a senior construction wing official said.

Four stabling lines

Railways have proposed four stabling lines, two additional platform lines, and a shunting neck in the first phase that is estimated to cost ₹122.88 crore.

Of the estimated ₹122.88 crore, ₹92 crore is for civil works, ₹15 crore for signalling, and ₹8 crore each for electrical and electrical Over Head Equipment (OHE).

But, only ₹77.3 crore had been sanctioned in the Budget now.

Focus of Railways

The focus of Railways is on stabling lines, as they can be used to shift the parked rakes from the Central station and use them for train operations.

This will de-congest the Central station and help Railways bring more long-distance trains to the capital.

A dedicated line is needed from the Central station to the proposed stabling lines and efforts were on to lay it along with the ₹1,552.94-crore doubling and electrification of the 86.56-km Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kanyakumari line.

As the 12.14 hectares of land is in the shape of a triangle, another 28.33 hectares of land have to be acquired for the terminal.

Gradient, an issue

Mr. Sinha said that the gradient of land in possession with Railways was also an issue.

In Phase II, a complete coaching terminal with power car shed, four pit lines, and sick lines will be set up.