Expectations are running high for the State government on several multicrore projects with the proposed visit of Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and Chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani to Kerala this month.
The government has a fully loaded agenda to launch new railway projects envisaged under the Kerala Railway Development Board, a joint venture company of the State government and Railways formed in January. The company, first of its kind in a State, has been formed on a 51:49 equity partnerships by the government and Railways respectively to develop railway infrastructure.
On top of the agenda is a meeting of the railway officials led by the Minister with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the capital city on new proposals, including a railway line connecting north Kerala to Mysuru.
“The dates of their visit have not been finalised yet but we are fully geared up for the event,” a spokesman of the Ministry told The Hindu .
It is learnt that the Chief Minister’s Office has pushed for the proposed Thalassery-Mysuru railway project. The government is awaiting approval of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change to carry out a survey for the rail line project through the 49-km stretch in the forests of Kerala.
Demands
However, the Nilgiris-Wayanad National Highway and Railway Action Committee, which claims to have the support of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation principal adviser E. Sreedharan, wants to go ahead with the Nilambur-Nanjangud rail line.
Another organisation, the Malabar Mysure Rail Action Council, has mooted a fresh proposal on the Kannur-Wayanad-Coorg-Mysuru line with link to Kozhikode from Mananthavady in Wayanad district.
A senior official said the Palakkad Railway Division had in its mind a long-pending project — the rail coach factory at Kanjikode — for which land has been acquired several years ago.
