Thiruvananthapuram: PWD minister G. Sudhakaran told the assembly on Wednesday that the state was ready to hold talks with Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu to ensure the safety of rail passengers. The minister while replying to a calling attention motion by A. P. Anilkumar said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written two letters and he had written three to the Union minister on the issue.
The Railways had failed to take prompt action to replace the damaged railway tracks even after Maveli Express going from Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram caught fire and the incident in which some coaches of the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Express derailed near Karukutty railway station in Ernakulam district. Its engineers' association in its report had pointed out that 202 cracks were detected in the Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section. The failure of Railways to ensure the safe movement of passengers and trains is deplorable,” Mr Sudhakaran said.
Both the present NDA government and the previous UDF government had neglected the demands of the state. The only time the state received a better deal from the railway was when O Rajagopal was the minister of state for railways in 1992, he said.
