Work on the ₹118.53-crore Nemom coaching terminal will get delayed with the Railway Board asking for changes in the plan for the terminal for which foundation stone was laid on March 7.
The change as mooted by the board, as suggested by Thiruvananthapuram Railway division, is the construction of a pit line by reducing the number of stabling lines from the proposed five to four.
Although the Railways need not acquire additional land for the pit line, the change may shoot up the estimated cost by at least by ₹14 crore.
The pit line and four stabling lines will be part of the Phase I work of the coaching terminal along with two additional platform lines, and a shunting neck.
Decongest Central
The Railways aim to de-congest Thiruvananthapuram Central station and make it a world-class station by the shifting of stabling lines and pit lines to Nemom.
The directive was communicated by the Executive Director, Works Planning, to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Construction, Ernakulam, who is in charge of development works of Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisions, during the meeting convened by the Railway Board in New Delhi on Friday.
The work for revising the drawing and estimate of the coaching terminal commenced in the office of the CAO, Ernakulam, and would be ready by July end, a top Railways official told The Hindu on Monday.
The new drawing and estimate from the CAO will have to be approved by Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager and Southern Railway before it reaches the Railway Board.
After approval
Work for the coaching terminal will commence only after the plan is approved. Tenders could be floated by the CAO only after the nod.
The foundation stone for the terminal was laid by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal through video conferencing from Delhi when the file was still pending with the Finance wing of the Southern Railways, Chennai.
In February
The preliminary works on the Phase I of the coaching terminal commenced in February with the CAO awarding the ₹15-crore work for two platforms, each 600-m-long, and railway track, each 750-m-long.
The Phase II will constitute a complete coaching terminal with power car shed, four pit lines, and sick lines.
The joint survey for the land needed for doubling of the line to Kanyakumari was over and the District Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, was yet to submit the land acquisition proposal to the government, he added.
