Kochi: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday demanded the formation of a new railway zone with Ernakulam as the headquarters and combining Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions so as to speed up rail projects in the state. In separate letters written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Vijayan also asked them to stop the railway move to “transfer” Nemom-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli-Nagercoil sectors from the Thiruvananthapuram division to neighbouring Madurai.
“The state has tied up with the railways and formed the Kerala Rail Development Corporation in an attempt to enhance rail infrastructure in the state. However since the railway headquarters is in Chennai, we are experiencing huge delays in decision making with regard to almost all major projects – the High Speed rail corridor, the new lines in Talassery-Mysore, Angamaly-Sabari, Guruvayoor-Tirunavaya sections and the Palakkad coach factory. Hence the demand for a peninsular railway zone extending from Kanyakumari to Mangalore with Ernakulam as the base,” he pointed out. Vijayan further said allied infrastructure facilities were being set up at Nemom with the Thiruvananthapuram Central station getting very congested.
The move to bifurcate Thiruvananthapuram-Tirunelveli, Nagercoil-Kanyakumari lines from the division would act as a hurdle to development of the sector, he said. Incidentally, the Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager's office received a letter (No 2015/E&R/1(3)/10) from the railway board on July 22 last seeking “comments” on the “transfer of Tirunelveli-Nagercoil and Kanyakumari-Nagercoil-Trivandrum section (161 km) from Trivandrum division to Madurai and Sengottai-Kollam from Madurai Division to Trivandrum Division”. The letter also sought the opinion of the Divisional Railway Manager so that the “matter can be put up to the Honourable Minister”.
