'Food plaza' for Thiruvananthapuram Rly. station

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 16. The Thiruvananthapuram Central will be one of the 50 railway stations in the country to feature a `food plaza' as part of the Railways' plans to provide quality refreshments to the travelling public.

The Union Minister of State for Railways, Mr. O. Rajagopal, told a press conference that the Railways were at present engaged in talks with reputed hoteliers and caterers for operating these food plazas which would supply food in hygienic packs. However, the scheme does not allow cooking of food items at these centres as the plazas are intended solely as catering outlets.

Yet another proposal, which was intended both as a revenue- generation initiative for the Railways as well as a beneficial measure for the public, was regarding the utilisation of unused Railway land for setting up commercial establishments with private participation. The list of 100 stations where this proposal is being mooted includes four in Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Palakkad, he said.

Mr. Rajagopal was addressing the press after carrying out an inspection of the existing facilities at the station and reviewing the progress of several on-going development projects.

The completion of various development projects connected to the expansion of facilities at the Thiruvananthapuram Centre, on an outlay of Rs. 18 crores, would enable extension of several long- distance trains now terminating in Kochi, to Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Rajagopal said.

According to Mr. Rajagopal, a parallel station towards the Chalai side, which will serve as the conduit to the fifth platform under construction, was expected to be ready by August next year. This second transit terminal, which would considerably ease the congestion at downtown Thampanoor, would also feature a foot overbridge connecting the fifth and first platforms.

The new station on the Chalai side would have modern passenger amenities, counters and car parking facilities. Concrete roofing for the fourth and fifth platforms was on schedule for completion by June. A satellite passenger terminal was also proposed at Kochuveli during the next phase of development.

Regarding the running of special trains during the Sabarimala pilgrim season, Mr. Rajagopal said that there were proposals to run a Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram train on a daily basis from November 25 in addition to a Bangalore-Kottayam train on alternate days.

The pitline extension was on schedule for completion by February and work on five stabling lines expected to be completed by March.

He said that instructions had also been given to officials to submit proposals on any other urgent requirement for the Thiruvananthapuram Central by November-December so that they could be taken up for inclusion in the next Railway Budget.

Mr. V.S. Sivakumar, MP, Mr. S. Marcus, Divisional Railway Manager, Mr. Danny Thomas, ADRM and Mr. M. Satheesh, Chief Engineer, were also present at the press briefing.

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Section  : Southern States
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