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Railways decouple MEMU plan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Railways insisting on dedicated lines for operating them, suburban Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train services in the State are likely to remain on paper for the time being. Such services had been proposed to ease congestion on the roads.

Inspection and stabling-line facilities and maintenance sheds for the trains have been proposed in Kollam and Palakkad. But the services cannot be run, as the railway network is saturated.

The Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kollam section has been saturated by 120 per cent; Ernakulam-Kayamkulam, via Alappuzha, by 140 per cent, and via Kottayam, by 160 per cent; and Ernakulam-Thrissur, by 118 per cent.

A top Railway official says two dedicated lines are needed, as MEMU services cannot be mixed with other railway traffic. This calls for land acquisition for lines, platforms and other infrastructure.

“It is for the construction wing of Railways to take up the issue and seek the help of the State government. Sadly, the issue has not been taken up at the appropriate platform till date,” he says.

It did not figure at a meeting of MPs convened by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan in the capital recently to discuss railway projects and needs of the State.

A sum of Rs.5 lakh was earmarked in the previous railway budget for setting up the inspection and stabling-line facilities in Kollam. Railway land near the flyover at Chinnakada, near Kollam, was identified for setting up the shed.

MEMU trains of nine cars can carry 3,000 passengers at a time. Seating will be as in suburban trains plying in the metros. Each train can run 200 km at a stretch.

A maintenance shed and terminal costs Rs.30 crore to Rs.40 crore. Kollam being the mid-point between Nagercoil and Ernakulam, 155 km apart from each, Railways chose it for locating the shed.

MEMUs now ply on the Palakkad-Erode section. With no shed in Palakkad, the rake is taken to Avadi, near Chennai, for periodic maintenance. Sources say efforts to acquire land for setting up a maintenance shed have started in Palakkad. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which had carried out a feasibility study on the need for a rail-based Mass Rapid Transit System for the capital a couple of years ago, suggested introduction of suburban services at a cost of Rs.176 crore. It sought MEMU trains on the 82-km Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram- Neyyattinkara stretch. Suburban traffic is expected to increase by three to four times by 2010.

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