Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Major gauge conversion works to be completed by March

Staff Reporter

Tiruchi-Pudukottai section to be thrown open for traffic in a couple of months

PROJECTS ON TRACK: Hemant Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, accepting the guard of honour at the Independence Day celebrations in the city on Tuesday. — Photo: G. Moorthy

MADURAI: Major gauge conversion works being carried out in the Madurai Division of the Southern Railway were expected to be completed by March next year, said Hemant Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), on Tuesday.

Hoisting the national tricolour to mark the Independence Day celebrations here, Mr. Kumar said that ongoing gauge conversion projects in Pudukottai-Karaikudi and Manamadurai-Rameswaram sections, including the upgradation of the Pamban bridge, would be completed by March 31. The Tiruchi-Pudukottai section was expected to be opened for traffic in a couple of months. The gauge conversion works in Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli- Tenkasi, Tenkasi-Shencottah and Punalur-Kollam sections were under way.

As many as 396 special trains were operated to clear the rush during the festival and summer seasons in the division.

The DRM said that in the post-Mumbai blasts scenario, despite enhanced security measures using employing sophisticated surveillance and detection equipment, there was no substitute to alertness on the part of all. It was important that both railway personnel and the public were alert.

More facilities

Several facilities such as automated teller machines, automated vending machines and other information technology services would be provided in Madurai, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Virudhunagar stations. Also, the provision of fixed-destination ticket kiosks, platform ticket vending machine, integrated voice response system, touch screens, improved lighting, waiting hall and retiring rooms would also be made.

Congratulating every member of the Railway family, he announced a number of staff amenities and welfare measures. Thirty-four units of staff quarters would be constructed in Madurai, Dindigul, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin along with community halls at railway colonies in Madurai, Mandapam, Pollachi, Shencottah and Virudhunagar.

Cash awards

He also announced cash awards of Rs. 7,000 to Railway Protection Force personnel, Rs. 2,000 to Southern Railway Women's Welfare Organisation (SRWWO), Rs. 1,000 to Scouts and Guides of Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School and to the staff of engineering department and Rs. 500 each to the staff of Signal and Telecommunication, Electrical and Medical Department.

M. Suyambulingam, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Seema Kumar, president, Southern Railway Women's Welfare Organisation, Rethina Suyambulingam, vice-president, A.P. Baburai, Divisional Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force, R.K. Mohan Narayanan, Divisional Personnel Officer, trade union representatives and railway officers participated in the celebrations.

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