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Steps to make level crossings safe by railenquiry on 07 May, 2012 - 12:00 PM
avatar railenquiry Steps to make level crossings safe on 07 May, 2012 - 12:00 PM

Union Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa has said that all the level crossings in the State will be made safe by March next.The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a manned level crossing gate at Anjilipalam, near the Cherthala railway station, on Sunday.He said that out of the 84 unmanned level crossings in the State, 30 would be manned soon and four would be closed. The remaining ones would be manned by March next.Mr. Muniyappa said the 17 km doubling work between Haripad and Ambalappuzha and the 20 km doubling work between Thuravur and Ernakulam would be completed within two years. Even before completing these works, the 40 km doubling work between Ambalappuzha and Thuravur would be taken up, he said.The Minister said the number of coaches in the Thiruvananthapuram-Guruvayur Intercity Express would be increased from 18 to 24 within three months. The number of coaches in the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express via Alappuzha would also be increased to 24 soon.

MEMU schedule

The Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) had been instructed to look into the demand for rescheduling of timings of MEMU. More coaches would be added to MEMU.

A reservation counter would be opened at the Cherthala railway station within three months. The work on the foot over-bridge at the Thuravur railway station would be completed within three months, the Minister said.

Booking counter

Speaking at the function, Union Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal said a counter for booking unreserved railway tickets would be set up at the Chertala KSRTC bus station within a month.

The unmanned level crossing at Anjilipalam was converted into a manned one after Mr. Venugopal allotted Rs.26 lakh from his MP's fund.

According to a Railway release, 263 level crossings were identified for elimination in the Southern Railway by various methods including construction of subways, diversion to nearby level crossings and outright closure of sparingly used level crossings. In the Ernakulam- Alappuzha- Kayamkulam section, Rs.2.5 crore had been spent for converting unmanned level crossings into manned ones.

Sufficient number of ex-servicemen had been appointed for manning these level crossings.

P. Thilothaman, MLA, Thiruvananthapuram DRM Rajesh Agrawal, and

Cherthala municipal chairperson Jayalakshmi Anilkumar spoke.