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Create rail corridor: MP

KOCHI: There is urgent need to speed up passenger trains by creating a rail corridor passing through the four southern States and Goa, P.C. Thomas, MP, has said.

Addressing mediapersons at the Ernakulam Press Club on Thursday, he said that even the Rajdhani Express had an average speed of only around 70 km per hour.

“This is hardly sufficient since super-fast trains are the norm even in developing countries. We need trains that can travel at over 300 km an hour. Forty MPs from the south had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding a high-speed corridor passing through the southern States. He promised that the Railways would carry out a techno-economic feasibility study of the proposed corridor.”

Kerala Congress (J) leader P.J. Joseph had demanded that the corridor be included in the coming Railway budget, he said.

The Centre has already cleared the decks for a freight corridor connecting Mumbai and Delhi.

The Mumbai-Kanyakumari ‘yatra’ led by Mr. Joseph, demanding faster rail connectivity between Kerala and metropolitan cities, would reach Ernakulam on Tuesday.

“There is also need to hasten the process of doubling rail lines in the State. Kerala urgently needs a dedicated railway zone. Now, the sanction of the Southern Railway head office at Chennai is required for every proposal. There is also need for more loco sheds in Kerala,” Mr. Thomas said.

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