Railways to focus on doubling works

Railways will give priority to complete the doubling works from Ernakulam to Kayamkulam via Alappuzha and Kottayam and consolidate ongoing projects for providing better service to commuters. At a press conference here on Thursday, Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agrawal said 13 km from Kayamkulam to Haripad and 12 km from Mavelikkara to Chengannur had been doubled last year and the aim was to complete the remaining works on the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam section in two years. The speed of trains operating in the division had been enhanced from the range of 50-100 km an hour to 90-110 km. Three more intermediate block sections would be commissioned in the next three months. “The speeding up of 84 trains has resulted in a quantum improvement in the division as it is riddled with curves and gradients. With this, we have increased the capacity and were able to commence 11 pairs of trains sanctioned in the budget,” he said. Mr. Agrawal, who was accompanied by Additional Divisional Manager V. Rajeevan and senior officials, said the work to upgrade Thiruvananthapuram Central Station to a world class station had commenced and a blueprint of the improvements chalked out for the Ernakulam and Thrissur stations had been released. Replying to queries on the condition of coaches, Mr. Agrawal said it had been taken up with those concerned and 70 to 80 per cent of the issue had been sorted out. “Physically, we have the coaches. Here is mismatch and we will address it. The augmentation of the coaches is the real challenge,” he added. Listing out the initiatives taken up in the division during 2012, Mr. Agrawal said efforts had been taken to remove the bottlenecks in infrastructure with the support of all wings in Railways. Ladies coach On shifting the ladies coach to the middle of the rake, Mr. Agrawal said Railways would implement it in passenger trains soon. In mail and express long-distance trains, a policy decision had to be taken. “Still, I am of the opinion that the ladies coach should be in the rear end of the rake as reliable assistance from the guard and the police is easy to reach there,” he added. (The Hindu dt 11-1-2013)