Prompt handing over of land by the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments holds the key to completing the doubling of tracks along the 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha and 86-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari railway corridors, says Rajendra Jingar, chief administrative officer of the Southern Railway.
Though the Railway Board had sanctioned both the projects, only doubling the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari tracks is under way as land was made available in most parts. Handing over of land to the Railways is yet to pick pace in the other corridor.
Having deposited the requisite funds with the State government to double tracks in the Ernakulam-Kumbalam-Thuravur-Ambalappuzha corridor, the Railways’ construction wing has readied all documents and is getting ready to award engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contract for the works. “We hope to get possession of requisite land from October. Tenders will be floated soon after land is handed over,” Mr. Jingar told The Hindu.
