Kerala's Shoranur – Nilambur stretch to have 'Amrit Bharat railway stations' in a year: Details

Nilambur: The 'Amrit Bharat stations' project, an Indian Railway initiative to modernise the country's railway stations, is progressing in various cities in Kerala. Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager Arunkumar Chaturvedi recently said that the development of the Amrit Bharat stations in the Shoranur – Nilambur route would be completed in a year. Meanwhile, he added that he had instructed the contractor to complete the underpass construction near the Nilambur railway station before May 31. The DRM, who was here to inspect the developmental works at the Nilambur railway station as part of its upgradation to Amrit Bharat standards, held discussions with PV Abdul Wahab MP and members of the Nilambur Mysuru Railway Action Council. ADRM S Jayakrishnan and senior divisional commercial manager Arun Thomas Kalathil accompanied him. The group reached the spot in a special train on Friday. The construction site of the underpass was inspected first.

Why the delay?
The railway and the state government developed the project jointly, each contributing 50 per cent of the expenses. Meanwhile, the construction is overseen by the K Rail. When the DRM enquired about the reason for the delay despite the railway handing over its share, the contractor replied that he hadn’t completely received the state’s share. The construction of the temporary path would be completed in two days by installing two steel girders for the trains to pass when the mud is removed at the railway gate, which is likely to speed up the underpass construction.

Petitions for extension
Abdul Wahab MP submitted a petition urging the railway to extend the Kovai – Shoranur, Ernakulam – Shoranur MEMU trains up to Nilambur, Nilambur – Kottayam Express up to Madurai and to begin a daytime Kottayam service using the rakes of the Kochuveli Rajyarani Express. The DRM said he had made positive recommendations and urged the MP to interfere in the Railway Board. It took around an hour for the DRM to inspect the developmental works at the railway station under the Amrit Bharat project.

Inspection at Angadippuram
Meanwhile, the team also visited the Angadippuram station to oversee the Amrit Bharat developmental works. The officials then inspected the construction sites of the crossing stations at Vaniyambalam and Melattoor. The panchayat officials handed over a petition to the railway officers urging them to reconstruct the bund at Elamkulam that was destroyed in the floods. They pointed out that paddy farming on over 50 hectares would be destroyed if the bund on the Kakkad River wasn’t reconstructed. Besides, the panchayat members, headed by President P Sudheer Babu, also demanded the building of an underpass at Cherukara and to allow a stop for the Kottayam Express at Cherukara.

Rakesh E Nair and KC Latheef, the representatives of Train Time, an association of railway officials and passengers and the members of various passengers’ associations, also submitted petitions and appeals. Meanwhile, VB Suresh Babu gave a petition with multiple demands, including the extension of the daytime Coimbatore – Nilambur MEMU service and the nighttime Ernakulam – Shoranur MEMU up to Nilambur, adding an AC coach to the Nilambur – Kottayam Express and to raise the number of coaches in the Rajyarani Express to 16.