The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Salem rail division to be operational in two years

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Salem rail division to be operational in two years

S. Vydhianathan

Palghat division likely to be bifurcated

CHENNAI: The new railway division headquartered at Salem, agreed in principle by the Railway Ministry, will take at least two years to take shape.

Though land for the division is available with the railway administration, other facilities such as communication network and a control room have to be set up. These will cost several crores. According to Southern Railway officials here, the project was conceived by the late S.V.Ramaswamy, when he was Deputy Minister for Railways in the 1960s. The administration acquired land but he failed to get the Planning Commission's approval.

Subsequent Railway Ministers, including the present Minister of State, R. Velu, and MPs belonging to Tamil Nadu, made sustained efforts. These have now borne fruit.

To start with, a special officer in the rank of Divisional Railway Manager will be posted at Salem to work out the modalities for the division. His first task will be to mark the division's jurisdiction.

The Palghat division may be bifurcated with the Tamil Nadu areas coming under Salem. It has jurisdiction over 1,132 route kilometres. Of this 1,069 km are broad gauge lines and the rest, metre gauge. It controls the Jolarpettai-Salem-Coimbatore, Erode-Dindigul and Erode-Tiruchi Fort sections. These may be brought under the new division.

The officials say the new Salem control room has to be linked to the Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai and all stations under its jurisdiction to monitor traffic movement. New Divisional and construction offices have to be built.

A number of officials, including Divisional Railway Manager, Commercial Manager, Operation Manager and Safety Manager have to be posted. Hospital, school and other facilities have to be created.

Everything will be clear once the Ministry order connection is received here, the officials add.

Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss on Tuesday said though the demand for the creation of divisional headquarters had been made for decades, it was not acted upon for one reason or the other. Whenever he met Railway Ministers in Delhi, he made this demand. His party colleagues, A.K. Moorthy, who was the Union Minister of State for Railways earlier, and R. Velu, the present Minister, had taken sustained steps for fulfilling the demand.

The creation of the new headquarters would help in quicker implementation of railway development projects, Dr. Ramadoss hoped, thanking Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Mr Moorthy, Mr Velu and the Democratic Progressive Alliance leader, M. Karunanidhi for their efforts.

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