COIMBATORE: No railway station in western Tamil Nadu figures in the list of stations in the State that would be taken up for redevelopment in the next five to eight years. This was stated by the Union railway ministry in response to a RTI query filed by director of Kongu Railway Development Council Ramakrishnan K Sundaram. A total of ten railway stations in Tamil Nadu will be taken up for redevelopment in the first phase, the reply revealed.
According to sources, 400 stations are to be taken up for redevelopment at a cost of one lakh crore rupees through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, and work is underway to prepare the detailed project report (DPR). Passenger amenities like cafeterias, recreational facilities, food court, waiting lounge and playing area for children would be developed in the selected stations.
Ramakrishnan said “Of the 200 stations that would be developed, the ministry has released the list of 163 stations in the first phase. Of this, not one station in Western Tamil Nadu, like Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri or Hosur, is included. Ten stations, including four in Chennai region, two in central region and four in southern region, figure in the list.”
“We came to know that Southern Railway has recommended development of Coimbatore station only in 2041. It is disappointing to note that Coimbatore, which is the second largest income generating city in Tamil Nadu for Indian Railways and as well as the State government, have to wait for so long time for development,” said K Jayaraj DRUCC member.
Ramakrishnan added,” The list reveals that eight stations in Kerala have been selected for redevelopment. The total length of railway tracks to be covered will be 1,047 km. Whereas in Tamil Nadu, it will be ten stations for a track distance covering 5,354 km, which means Railways will be developing one station every 130 km in Kerala and in Tamil Nadu it will be for every 535.4 km.”