Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Mechanised cleaning at central station soon

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 20. The Union Minister of State for Railways, Bandaru Dattatraya, has announced that the Railways will introduce mechanised cleaning of coaches at the central station here with private participation.

Addressing a press conference at the VIP lounge of the central station here today, Mr. Dattatraya said the Railways had already commenced the pilot project at the Ratlam and Nizamudeen stations. The Railways plan to introduce mechanised cleaning at 100 railway stations in the country.

Stating that the cleaning of the railway coaches by the `safaiwallahs' will go on, the Union Minister said the private group that had been entrusted with the work at Ratlam does the cleaning of the coaches, doors and windows in just 20 minutes.

Mr. Dattatraya asked the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Sujatha Jayaraj, who was present at the press conference along with the Chief Engineer (Construction), M. Satheesh, to send a proposal soon to the Ministry in this regard. The Railways will introduce Cement Concrete Apron in Thiruvananthapuram central and Kottayam at a cost of Rs. 35 lakhs each. The construction of the CC Apron, being taken as part of the passenger amenities works in the division, will enable the authorities to remove the stink in the railway station and ensure cleanliness of the tracks in the station premises.

On the construction of the satellite terminal for the central station at Kochuveli, the Minister said the drawing for the project had been prepared and negotiations are on with the Indian Oil Corporation to shift the oil pipelines in the locality.

He said Rs. 2.28 crores and Rs. 3.85 crores respectively had been sanctioned for converting the Nemom and Parasala railway stations into crossing stations.

Later, Mr. Dattatraya also met commuters at the central

station and enquired about the passenger amenities. The Minister arrived here after commissioning the augmented coach maintenance facilities at the Nagercoil railway station.

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