RailEnquiry

Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday allotted four new trains for the state, including two express trains, during his reply to the two-day debate on the railway budget.These include a New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram weekly express, a Bangalore-Palakkad-Mangalore bi-weekly express, an Ernakulam-Kollam Memu service via Kottayam and an Ernakulam-Kollam Memu service via Alappuzha,The minister also announced the extension of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kozhikode Jan Shadabdi Express till Kannur and the Kozhikode-Shoranur passenger till Thrissur. Besides, the Kochuveli-Lokmanya Tilak weekly express will run twice a week.Bansal included Vadakancherry, Thrissur and Guruvayur stations among Adarsh stations. The budget, presented last month, had included four stations - Chingavanam, Kollam, Kozhikode and Tripunithura - in the list.The minister announced that the Palakkad coach factory would be completed in a time-bound manner. The much-awaited Sabari line also found mention in his speech when he said the project would be made a reality. He also announced that six stations in the state will be modernised.

However, the minister has not accepted any major demand put forward by a delegation of ministers and officials to Delhi last week. They included formation of a peninsular zone, commencement of work for the Alappuzha wagon factory, improving Memu services, doubling of tracks and upgrading Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode stations to international standards.