RailEnquiry

Railways has taken over 230.10 acres for its coach factory at Kanjikode in Palakkad district of Kerala.A press release by the Palakkad division of Southern Railways said here that Piyush Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Palakkad, handed over a cheque of Rs 32.44 crore to P.M. Ali Asgar Pasha, Palakkad District Collector, on Friday for taking over the land for the coach factory.The District Collector handed over the relevant documents to the Divisional Railway Manager, it said.As an immediate measure, Railways will construct a boundary wall and other basic support infrastructure designed to secure the acquired land. The release said that 90 more acres of forest land have also been requested for the phase-II of coach factory.The project was announced in the Railway Budget of 2008-2009. Foundation stone for the Palakkad Rail Coach Factory was laid on February 21 this year.The Railway officials, along with the District Survey Team, surveyed the acquired land from May 21 to June 17, and demarcated 230.10 acres of forest land in Kanjikode area.The release said that the proposed facility would help Indian Railways in ensuring timely availability of passenger coaches to meet the increasing demand of passenger transportation.The project, which is expected to be completed in three years, is likely to produce 450 coaches a year.It said that there are big opportunities for the growth of auxiliary industries around Palakkad district.