The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Trains promised to remote areas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Trains promised to remote areas

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, SEPT. 19. Efforts are under way to extend train services to remote and hitherto untouched areas of the country, the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, said today.

Flagging off the Madurai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Tamil Nadu Sampark Kranti Superfast Express here, he said there were several pockets where people had not seen a train. ``We want to reach out to such areas and link them to the mainstream network of the railways. This is in pursuant with our objective to take the railways to worldclass standards.''

As a part of the ongoing infrastructure building exercise, railways were planning electrification of all routes in a phased manner. ``This will facilitate operation of superfast trains. The Planning Commission has allotted Rs. 1,100 crores which will be utilised for modernisation and safety aspects.''

`No fare revision'

Mr. Lalu Prasad accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to hand over the railways to the private sector. ``No part of the railways will be privatised. We will ensure that the interests of employees and passengers are protected. I will not tolerate any revision of fares and you will be glad that the revenue through passenger/freight earnings is going up steadily.''

A special recruitment drive would be called soon to clear the backlog vacancies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. ``We are committed to social justice and communal harmony.''

In a bid to revive the handloom industry, which was in the doldrums, the railways had put an end to purchase of cloth materials from private mills and ordered use of khadi products. Similarly, mud khullars were introduced replacing plastic cups benefiting thousands of people engaged in the pottery industry. The procedure of auctioning iron scrap was withdrawn and officials were advised to adopt a recycle method to make cost-effective utilisation of iron wastes.

Passenger train

Mr. Lalu Prasad said there was a demand to introduce a passenger train service between Madurai and Chennai.

The matter was referred to officials for a feasibility report based on which a decision would be taken soon. Following an appeal made by the Madurai MP, P. Mohan, the Railway Minister immediately agreed to increase the frequency of the Sampark Kranti Express from once a week to twice a week. Earlier, he released a book on `Role of Rameswaram in the History of Railways', written by Robert Rajasekharan, the Divisional Engineer (North), Madurai Division.

The Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, said the direct train to Hazrat Nizamuddin was a long-felt demand of the passengers in Madurai and southern districts. The Sampark Kranti was the first to be flagged off this year. Though a sum of Rs. 46,000 crores was required to complete the sanctioned projects, the budget allocation was only Rs. 5,000 crores.

The Southern Railway General Manager, Shivendra Kumar; the Dindigul MP, N.S.V. Chithan; the Madurai Divisional Railway Manager, B.N. Rajasekhar, spoke.

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