Kateel bats for rly division despite ministry’s clear no

Mangaluru: Six days after Union railway minister Piyush Goyal tabled a reply to a question from MP Elamaram Kareem, that there is no proposal to remove Mangaluru from Palakkad division, Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday presented his wish list to the minister with this very proposal at the top of his agenda. Instead, the ministry has taken steps to improve revenue and facilities of Palakkad division, the reply stated.
The steps taken in this regard include attaching of additional coaches to trains as per demand, and running of special trains. Steps have also been taken to identify areas at stations and other premises for promoting commercial publicity and vehicle parking, Goyal stated, adding additional platforms have been sanctioned for Mangaluru Central and Kannur railway stations to handle more trains, in the reply tabled in the Rajya Sabha.
In addition, extension of existing pit lines of coaching depot at Mangaluru Central, have been sanctioned, which will facilitate accommodation of more coaches, the minister informed the house. Incidentally, Southern Railway through its Chennai, Madurai, Palakkad, Trichy, Salem and Thiruvananthapuram divisions, earned the railways Rs 38,861.99 crore in the five years from 2014-15, against total earnings of Rs 854,968.13 crore from its 17 zones.
Nalin told TOI over phone from Delhi that the railway minister has categorically ruled out setting up any more divisions across any of the zonal railways in the near future. Instead, it is the clear focus and vision of the minister to consolidate functioning of each of the divisions within the zone, while striving to provide the best possible facilities for passengers and other stakeholders alike, he said, adding the memorandum was an effort in this direction.
Creating a separate division for Mangaluru poses technical and financial issues as the operational area is split under zonal railways–South Western and Southern Railway, and Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd and Hassan Mangalore Rail Development Company Ltd. Since corporations are independent entities under the ministry with a different shareholding pattern, it will not be easy to run rough shod over them, he admitted.