Pathanamthitta: Even as several railway infrastructure projects, including those intended to increase the speed of tracks, are being planned in Kerala, the authorities have shifted a crucial post from Kochi to Chennai.

The post is that of Chief Engineer (North) in the construction wing at the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) in Kochi. There are two chief engineer posts in the Kochi office and the officers are in charge of the railway developmental works in Kerala.

Incidentally, the chief administrative officer and the chief engineer (South) will be retiring from service in June, which would lead to a headless situation in the office. With the shifting of the chief engineer (North) to Chennai, all railway development works in Kerala are likely to come to a standstill.

The order to shift the chief engineer (North) post to Chennai was issued on May 2. Meanwhile, it is pointed out that there are already six chief engineer posts in Tamil Nadu and most of them have little work.

The chief engineer (North) in Kerala supervised works from Ernakulam to Mangaluru and it is in this section that the speed of the tracks has to be increased to 130 kmph.

Meanwhile, the chief engineer (South) was in charge of railway development from Ernakulam to Tirunelveli. Major works on this route include the doubling of the Ernakulam-Thuravoor and Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari tracks and the Nemom terminal construction.

The third and fourth tracks on the Ernakulam–Shoranur route and the modernization of Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Varkala, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode stations are other important pending works in Kerala.