Front Page   

Slow land acquisition hits doubling: Ahamed

— Photo: H. Vibhu

Unity in purpose:Union Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas, MPs and MLAs flag off the Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express at the Ernakulam Junction railway

KOCHI: The Union Railway Ministry is concerned about the tardy pace of land acquisition to double railway lines on the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam sector through the Kottayam and Alappuzha routes, Union Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed said here on Sunday.

Addressing presspersons prior to flagging off the weekly Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express, he said the funds earmarked in each railway budget for doubling works got lapsed because of the sluggish pace of land acquisition. He requested the cooperation of the State government and the public in overcoming the hurdle. “Local-level law-and-order issues and technical problems too have been holding up doubling works,” he said.

Asked why Kerala was left out of the southern freight corridor of the Railways, he said there should be at least 40 goods rakes (set of wagons and an engine each) for the State to be included in the corridor. Mr. Ahamed did not elaborate on how the 20-odd additional goods trains carrying containers would be able to transit through the State's yet to be doubled lines when the Vallarpadam container transhipment terminal is commissioned in a few months' time. Referring to the proposed high-speed passenger corridor for linking Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore and Kochi, Mr Ahamed said that an authority had been set up to develop six such special corridors in the country to run trains at speeds up to 250 kmph.

He said the mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) trains proposed from Ernakulam would begin service by June. The Happa- Thiruvananthapuram- Tirunelveli Express would begin service soon.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Centre unfazed by opposition to Women's Reservation Bill
Nuclear liability law has sting in tail for the U.S. too
Toddler's death: Indian driver held
Hafiz Saeed's arrest did figure prominently at Foreign Secretary-level talks, says MEA
DMK, AIADMK back Women's Bill
Her struggle for justice against honour killing
Nithyananda: video clips morphed
Germany and Netherlands share points
Slow land acquisition hits doubling: Ahamed
Aggrieved farmers leave for Delhi

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu