Southern Railway GM holds meetings with MPs, Constituency-wise infrastructure development works reviewed
Passenger amenities, introduction of new trains, additional stops, extensions of existing services and station development were among the issues that were discussed at a meeting organised by the Southern Railway's Thiruvananthapuram Division with MPs from Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Friday.
The meeting reviewed completed and ongoing Constituency-wise infrastructure development works under the jurisdiction of the Division, the Railway said in a statement. Kerala MPs and the MPs representing Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli constituencies in Tamil Nadu attended the meeting with R.N. Singh, General Manager, Southern Railway. The progress on the construction of new railway lines, extensions of existing train services, doubling and electrification works and construction of Road Over Bridges/Road Under Bridges also were discussed.
Focused efforts are underway to improve railway infrastructure in regions falling under the Thiruvananthapuram Division of the Southern Railway, Railway officials said.
Ongoing works in Kerala include station redevelopment at Varkala-Sivagiri, development of the Thiruvananthapuram south station as a coaching terminal and redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram Central and Neyyattinkara stations. Railway officials noted that Ernakulam is emerging as a major hub with large-scale redevelopment underway at both Ernakulam Town and Junction stations. Other major stations such as Alappuzha and Kayamkulam Junction are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Scheme with lifts, waiting rooms and upgraded roofing.
In Tamil Nadu, the redevelopment of key stations such as Nagercoil Junction and Kanyakumari under the Amrit Station Scheme is progressing with escalators, platform shelters, and other modern amenities under implementation, the Railway said. Doubling of the Nagercoil Town-Nagercoil Junction-Kanyakumari line has been completed as part of Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari Doubling project, the Railway said.
Kerala MPs Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, Kodikkunnil Suresh, N.K. Premachandran, Shashi Tharoor, K.C. Venugopal, Anto Antony, Adoor Prakash, Hibi Eden, John Brittas and Haris Beeran and Tamil Nadu MPs C. Robert Bruce and Vijay Vasanth attended. Manish Thaplyal, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram Division, and principal heads of departments of the Southern Railway also were present.
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