Railway budget: new trains for Kerala likely

The divisional railway authorities in Kerala have not proposed any new trains to the Railway Ministry for inclusion in the railway budget in view of the lack of rail infrastructure.

“We did not propose new trains for the State as the rail infrastructure here is being used beyond its capacity and is oversaturated. The efforts to double the lines and increase facilities at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochuveli and Ernakulam have not been successful,” highly placed sources told The Hindu .

Major announcements

However, major announcements are likely in the railway budget to be presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee next week in the Parliament. Among the proposals under consideration is a daily ‘reverse’ Janshatabdi Express from Kozhikode to Thiruvananthapuram, via Kottayam.

Railway officials said the move was to start the Janshatabdi from Kozhikode at 6 a.m. daily so as to reach Thiruvananthapuram Central at 2 p.m. In the return direction, the train will depart from the capital at 2.30 p.m. to reach Kozhikode around 10 p.m.

The long pending demand for a daily superfast train from Thiruvananthapuram Central to Bangalore is likely to materialise.