Kerala - Kochi   

Duranto Express to Delhi from March-end

KOCHI: The Ernakulam-New Delhi weekly Duronto Express train, announced in the 2009-’10 Railway budget, will begin service before March-end.

Introducing a Duronto Express train on the Mumbai-Ernakulam route too is being discussed at different levels. Highly-placed sources in the Railways said that a daily train in the Kochuveli-Bangalore sector, instead of the weekly train plying now, too is a possibility considering the huge demand from Keralites settled in the IT hub. Though high-level discussions were done to introduce a new Jansatabdi Express on the Kozhikode-Kottayam route, it has been held up because the rail infrastructure along the route is being used beyond its capacity. The Railways is also under pressure to make the weekly Ernakulam-Guwahati Express into a daily train, because of the increasing demand from migrant workers hailing from West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and North-Eastern States. Yet another demand is to make the Ernakulam-Goa Express a bi-weekly train.

Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Rajiv Dutt Sharma said that the division has demanded more funds to enhance passenger amenities. “Complete lane doubling of the 18-km-long Ernakulam-Mulanthuruthy stretch and commissioning of platform six at the Ernakulam Junction railway station will be done before June,” he said.

The lane doubling was further delayed after the Commissioner for Railway Safety reportedly asked the construction wing of the Railways to make some modifications in the works. The wing has been unable to double the portion between the Ernakulam Town station and the C-cabin near Katrikadavu.

GCDA building

Mr. Sharma said the Railways is engaged in negotiations with the Greater Cochin Development Authority to purchase the authority’s five-storey building on the eastern entry to the Ernakulam Junction. “The building will initially be taken on lease, so that our administrative offices can be shifted to it.”

Another long-pending demand is to electrify the Ernakulam-Willingdon Island railway line, the only portion in the Thiruvananthapuram-Shornur stretch that is yet to be electrified.

Residents of West Kochi will considerably benefit if select passenger and express trains plied up to the Island. Work has been held up owing to objections raised by the Navy and the Defence Ministry.

Taking into account the inordinate delay by the construction wing in completing work on overbridges, platforms and renovation of the Ernakulam Junction and Town stations, there is increasing demand that the works be handed over to the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited. Passenger amenities on the eastern entry to both the stations too are inadequate.

Reacting to media reports about the introduction of Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains linking neighbouring districts, a senior Railway official said that the State needs at least 30 rakes (set of coaches) to network cities and towns. “For this, maintenance depots at Kollam and Palakkad have to be readied. But there is the possibility of one rake being introduced this year in a corridor where there is very high passenger density.”

Yet another long-pending demand is to enhance amenities at railway stations in Kochi’s suburbs like Kalamassery, Aluva and Thripunithura and introduce halts for more trains in these stations.

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