COIMBATORE: Southern Railway General Manager RN Singh said that they are considering possibilities for constructing a third elephant underpass at railway line B at Madukkarai forest range to prevent elephants from getting killed on the tracks.
After inspecting Podanur Railway station on Saturday evening, Singh said, "Construction of first underpass is over and construction of the second one will commence in November and it will be completed by April- May next year. The underpass is being constructed to facilitate the movement of elephants and prevent them from crossing the railway track."
The GM also said that they are planning to rename the Podanur Railway station to Coimbatore South."We are going to discuss this with the state government and some new trains will commence from Podanur railway station. For this, basic amenities like creation of pit lines and stabling lines will be set up in Podanur," Singh said.
However, he said that currently there are no plans to restore the trains to the southern districts, including trains to Sengottai from Coimbatore railway station, which were operated in meter gauge via Podanur and Kinathukkadavu railway stations.
He further said that Coimbatore Railway station will be redeveloped in the next four to five years at the cost of Rs 500 crore under Private Public Partnership. Reacting to the demand of extending Mettupalayam to Coimbatore MEMU train up to Podanur railway station, the GM said that he would look into it.
"Podanur railway station is being upgraded under the Amrit Bharat development scheme at a total cost of Rs 12 crore. Facilities like parking space, expanding of exit and entry areas, improvement of passengers amenities along with coach indication boards and signages will be set up," he said.He said that railways is planning to introduce the Vande Bharat train to Bangalore from Coimbatore during the day.