The little or nil allocation in the recent Union Budget for projects that would have speeded up train movement and also helped augment the number of trains in Kerala has invited considerable flak from railway officials, passenger bodies and people’s representatives.
The foremost among the long-overdue projects which need urgent attention is doubling of the Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha track, for which a meagre ₹10.16 crore was allotted in the budget. “This is because the Railway Board has not yet sanctioned the detailed estimate of ₹2,693 crore that had been submitted in June 2021 to double the crucial 69-km corridor. Works worth at least ₹150 crore, including construction of a bridge parallel to the one-km-long Aroor bridge, could have been taken up this fiscal had adequate allocation been made in the budget,” sources said.
The entire Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha stretch can be doubled by December 2024, if the State government hands over the land required by this year-end. The double track holds the key to speed up train movement in the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam corridor and beyond, they added.
Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden had recently demanded in the Lok Sabha that the Railway Board approve the detailed estimate for doubling the track. “The Railway had given ₹510 crore to the State government to acquire land on the corridor. The Board’s delay in approving the estimate has in turn affected the disbursement of compensation to landowners.”
Doubling the 7.70-km Ernakulam-Kumbalam stretch is expected to cost ₹600 crore, 15.60-km Kumbalam-Turavur stretch ₹812 crore and the 46-km Turavur-Ambalapuzha stretch ₹1,281 crore.
Automatic block signalling
Stakeholders are also peeved at the budget overlooking the introduction of the long-awaited automatic block signalling system in the Ernakulam-Poonkunnam corridor, which would be a first such initiative in Kerala to operate more trains through available tracks.
Third track
Likewise, a meagre ₹75 lakh has been allocated to conduct survey for laying the third track in the 107-km Ernakulam-Shoranur corridor. This proposal is crucial to decongest existing tracks, by re-routing express and goods trains through the third track, thus ensuring faster commute. Similarly, funds were not set apart to double the around 1-km-long Shoranur Station-Bharathapuzha corridor that still remains a single track section.
The Thrissur Railway Passengers Association (TRPA) and others had been for long citing this as a bottleneck to increase the speed of trains beyond Shoranur.
Demand for MEMU trains
The secretary of Friends on Rails J. Liyons expressed angst at the budget overlooking the widespread demand from passengers to replace short-distance passenger train rakes with 16-coach MEMU rakes. “The Railway must also develop the MEMU shed at Kollam,” he said.
The allocation of ₹393.50 crore for doubling the 86-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari track has, however, been welcomed. Another ₹50.94 crore has been set apart to complete doubling of the 26-km Kurupunthara-Chingavanom corridor, for which the Railway has set March 31 as the deadline.
The new General Manager of Southern Railway, A.K. Agarwal, had on Thursday termed this year’s budget allocation of ₹1,085 crore for the State as the ‘highest ever’, a 192% increase over the 2020-21 figure of ₹688 crore. “Every effort will be made to ensure 100% fund utilisation, wherever possible, in advance. Both Railway Board and the PMO have stepped up the monitoring of track doubling and allied works,” Railway sources said.
