Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has assured Palakkad Lok Sabha Member V.K. Sreekandan that the land acquired for a coach factory at Kanjikode will be used for some development work.
During a meeting Mr. Vaishnaw had with Mr. Sreekandan in New Delhi on Thursday, the Railway Minister responded positively to a demand by the MP to utilise the land acquired for the coach factory under Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti national master plan.
As much as 236 acres of land was acquired by the State government and handed over to Railways at Kanjikode in 2012.
Non-starter
The Railway Minister had laid the foundation stone for the coach factory. Although a token amount was earmarked for the project every year, the changing governments did not pursue the project. A compound wall was constructed by spending ₹7 crore. Mr. Sreekandan told the Minister that the walled plot had become a haven for wild animals.
“I demanded that either a coach factory or some other factory of Railways be set up on the acquired land under the master plan in such a way as to provide jobs for about 5,000 people,” said Mr. Sreekandan.
The MP also convinced the Minister about the importance of having a piece of acquired land even at a time when a major controversy was raging in Kerala over land acquisition for the SilverLine rail project. “I am hopeful, and the Minister was positive to our demand,” he said.
He also demanded that enough funds be sanctioned for a pit-line for which the Railway Board had given sanction in 2020.
The other demands raised by Mr. Sreekandan included allowing a halt for Kannur-Ernakulam Intercity Express at Pattambi, a halt for Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity Express at Ottappalam, extension of Uday Express to Shoranur, withdrawal of the move to terminate Jayanti Janata Mumbai-Kanyakumari Express in Pune, introduction of Mangalapuram-Tuticorin Express, introduction of an day-time Intercity Express from Palakkad to Thiruvananthapuram, and resumption of all passenger trains stopped during the COVID-19 crisis in the Palakkad division.
