Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnav has promised that steps will be taken to complete the electrification of the Kollam-Punalur-Shencotta railway line in a time-bound manner.
He was replying to a question raised by N.K. Premachandran, MP, in the Lok Sabha recently. While electrification work of the stretch from Kollam to Punalur connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu has been started, the Punalur-Shencotta reach has been accorded administrative sanction.
As per the authorities, the work will be given priority considering it as an eco-friendly development initiative. A sum of ₹61.32 crore has been sanctioned for the electrification of the Punalur-Shencotta line and the tendering process will start soon. The work is expected to be complete by 2023.
Meanwhile, the Kollam railway station has been included on the list of stations being upgraded to international standards and the construction work for the same will be directly handled by the Railway Construction Organisation. The stations for development have been selected on the basis of technical and financial studies. Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Rani Kamalapadi in Madhya Pradesh, and Vishwesara in Bengaluru, three other stations included in this category, have completed construction work.
In Kollam, special arrangements will be made for the arrival and departure of passengers to develop it as a world-class station. The station will have extensive and superior facilities including the newly constructed station building, options to access other modes of transport, circulating area, and extra amenities for parking, boarding and disembarking.