Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Trains sanctioned for State in budget remain on paper

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The delay of Southern Railway’s Construction wing to create the infrastructure facilities at Kochuveli is preventing the commencement of the new trains announced in the Railway Budget 2008-2009.

The trains sanctioned will have to be commenced before March next. The divisional authorities are pondering how to commence the new trains to Amritsar, Dehradun and Bangalore as the Kochuveli terminal does not have even the basic passenger and traffic facilities.

Along with this, Union Minister Lalu Prasad has also increased the frequency of the Thiruvananthapuram-Nizamuddin Rajadhani Express from a bi-weekly to a tri-weekly.

At present, the railway authorities are handling three pairs of trains—Weekly Sampark Kranthi Express to Chandigarh, the bi-weekly Garib Rath to Lokmanya Tilak and the tri-weekly Express to Bangalore city—from Kochuveli with just one pit line and two platforms.

Railway sources said the pit line is saturated and the satellite terminal does not even have a sick line. The rakes are now being hauled to Thiruvananthapuram central and back to Kochuveli for maintenance due to the absence of a sick line at the terminal.

As the satellite terminal does not have the facilities to handle any more train, the 7229/30 Thiruvananthapuram-Hyderabad-Thiruvananthapuram Sabari Expresses is operating from Thiruvananthapuram central instead of Kochuveli.

Thiruvananthapuram Central is saturated and is handling trains two-and-a-half times more than the sanctioned

capacity, sources said. The only way to introduce the new trains is to expedite the Rs. 29-crore project to set up two stabling lines, one pit line and a sick line at Kochuveli.

Though sanctioned long ago, the tender process failed twice. The project, being implemented by the Construction Wing of the Southern Railway, has now been tendered. Railway sources said the chances of completing the project before March next are remote. Once the project is implemented, the railways will be able to handle at least 15 Mail and Express trains at Kochuveli.

An island platform (to receive trains on both sides) will also be set up. The railways will be able to handle nine originating trains from Kochuveli once the minimum infrastructure is created, sources said.

A railway official said the shifting of the office of Chief Engineer (CE), Construction, from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam had also affected the development activities at Kochuveli.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu