The Railway Board has been approached for additional funds for payment to the State to expedite land acquisition for the completion of crucial doubling works and for the ambitious coaching terminal at Nemom.
A sum of ₹200 crore has been sought and the zonal railway headquartered in Chennai is hopeful that the board will provide the funds as the State is according priority for fast-tracking land acquisition, a top railway official told The Hindu.
The amount, once provided, will be deposited with the State for payment towards the cost of acquiring land for doubling 7 km of rail line from Thiruvananthapuram Central to Nemom and for the coaching terminal at Nemom.
Inadequate allocation
The move comes as only ₹88 crore was allocated in the 2020-2021 Union Budget for doubling via Kottayam, ₹5 crore for doubling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari and ₹50 lakh for the coaching terminal. Railways had sought ₹500 crore for these three crucial works.
Railways have also written to the State seeking to divert the ₹50 crore deposited with the State exchequer in 2017, for acquiring land for the Sabari project, for acquiring land in the Thiruvananthapuram-Nemom corridor, the official said.
The government has sought ₹207 crore from Railways for the cost of acquiring 14.8 hectares for doubling the rail line from Thiruvananthapuram Central to Nemom and for the coaching terminal at Nemom. “The additional funds from the board and the ₹50 crore parked with the State exchequer will be enough for land acquisition,” he added.
Review meeting
Meanwhile, Southern Railway General Manager John Thomas has convened a meeting in Chennai on March 5 to review the progress of the ongoing doubling works and that of the coaching terminal at Nemom.
The completion of the doubling of the Ettumanur-Kottayam and Kottayam-Chingavanam railway corridors and the issues flagged by the Transport Department at the meeting Chief Secretary Tom Jose and top officials had with the General Manager here on February 27 will come up.
Railways want the doubling of the Nemom stretch and the track doubling via Kottayam to be completed in two years to bring more long-distance mail and express trains to the capital.