KOCHI: The Railway Ministry is not currently considering the formation of a separate railway zone for Kerala, said Union Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
“Currently, the Railways is mooting a railway zone for Andhra Pradesh, which remains separated.
Under the state reorganisation bill, we have given a lot of thought for railway development in Andhra Pradesh. There are a number of railway projects in the anvil for Andhra Pradesh. However, this does not mean that Kerala will be ignored. We will contemplate a railway zone for Kerala too in the long run,” the Union Minister said.
The Minister added that re-tenders will be called for the railway coach factory at Kanjikode, Palakkad, soon. However, he maintained that the delay in construction of the coach factory was owing to the lack of interest by bidders and not the Railways.
We had floated a tender on September 9 last year, but there were no bidders for the project which has been proposed on the public private partnership mode.
“We are contemplating a new business model once the project receives interest from bidders,” the Railway Minister said. He added that the project was sanctioned in the 2012-2013 budget at an estimated cost of `550 crore. The land was to be given by the state.