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The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Sabari rail project: Railway Board holds meet with Chief Secretary
A team from the Railway Board held discussions with Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday to explore ways to take the Sabari Rail project forward. Official sources said the delegation, which included Additional Railway Board Member Rajesh Agarwal, Chief Administrative Officer Om Prakash, and Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC) Managing Director Ajith Kumar, held deliberations on cost-sharing arrangements and land acquisition for the project. Another round of meeting to deliberate in detail on these aspects will be held soon While the State government has expressed only conditional willingness to share project costs, the Railways continue to insist on a 50:50 cost-sharing model. It has also asked the State to bear a portion of the expenditure already incurred. In addition, the State is expected to complete land acquisition up to Erumely. The Railways have agreed to begin construction once this is achieved. The 110-km Angamaly–Erumely route was first announced in the Railway Budget for 1997–98. So far, land has been acquired for an 8-km stretch and construction has been completed on a 7-km section between Angamaly and Kalady.
The Hindu
23-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Kerala will bear land acquisition cost of Sabari Rail project: Minister tells Parliament
Clearing the ambiguity over the financing of the Sabari Rail project, the Union Railway Ministry has made it clear that Kerala will acquire the land required for the project using the State share, ie 50% of the project cost. The State government has agreed to acquire land using its share of 50% of the project cost. Once land acquisition by the State started, work on the project could be taken forward, said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in reply to a question in Parliament on Wednesday. To a specific question whether the Union government had any plans to extend the railway line to Thiruvananthapuram to connect the Vizhinjam International Seaport, the Minister made it clear that there was no relation between the Sabarimala rail project and the Vizhinjam International Seaport. There had been ambiguity regarding sharing the cost of the project as the State had been maintaining that the liability incurred by it by financing the project through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) should be fully exempted from the State's borrowing limit. The Union government then suggested a tripartite agreement to implement the project, involving the State government, the Ministry of Railways, and the Reserve Bank of India. However, in the memorandum submitted by the Kerala government to the Railway Minister on June 3, the State government made it clear that it would not agree to enter into a tripartite agreement as suggested by the Union government. High-level committee During a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Mr. Vaishnaw in June, the Union Minister had promised that a high-level committee from the Railway ministry would visit the project site in July as part of reviving the project. However, the committee had not yet visited Kerala, though the State government had directed District Collectors of Ernakulam, Idukki, and Kottayam to restore the land acquisition units and to finalise the revised alignment of the railway line to speed up implementation of the project, said government sources. As per the revised estimate, the project will cost ₹3,810.69 crore. The 110-km Angamaly-Erumely route was first announced in the 1997-98 Railway Budget. Land acquisition had been completed in 8 km, while the work on the 7-km stretch between Angamaly and Kalady was completed earlier.
New Indian Express
12-06-2025
- New Indian Express
Thirteen years since gauge conversion, no daily train from Tenkasi to Chennai
TENKASI: Thirteen years have passed since the century-old Tirunelveli-Tenkasi railway line was converted into a broad gauge. Till day, there is no daily direct train service from the region to Chennai via Pavoorchatram, Ambasamudram and Tirunelveli, and commuters have to depend on buses. According to the Tenkasi District Rail Users Association, people used to travel on train (Nos. 111/112 ) which was operated between Chennai Egmore and Sengottai/Tenkasi. The service, which was first operated in 1902 was stopped in the late 1980s. President of the association R Pandiaraja recently submitted a petition Southern Railway officials, stating that the current tri-weekly super fast service is inadequate to cater to the needs and demanded a daily servicebetween Tambaram and Sengottai via Virudhachalam, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Pavoorchatram and Tenkasi. 'There is no direct service to Chennai on Sundays and no return train from Chennai on Fridays. As a result, people are forced to rely on expensive private buses, paying up to Rs 2,000 or more per trip,' he said. The association pointed out that operating a train via Pavoorchatram, Ambasamudram, and Tirunelveli is not only shorter for Chennai-bound passengers from Tenkasi and Tirunelveli but also provides an overnight link to Madurai, Virudhachalam and Tiruchy. 'The Tirunelveli-Tenkasi line, opened in phases between 1902 and 1903, runs via Cheranmahadevi, Kallidaikurichi, Ambasamudram, Kadayam, and Pavoorchatram at the scenic foothills of the Western Ghats. In the 1997-98 Railway Budget, gauge conversion of the 357-km Kollam-Tirunelveli-Thiruchendur and Tenkasi-Virudhunagar routes was sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 712 crore. The Tirunelveli-Tenkasi section was closed for conversion in December 2008 and reopened in September 2012,' said Pandiraja. K Jegan, secretary of the association, said, 'Despite completion of full electrification and track upgrades enabling speed up to 110 kmph, a daily express train to the State capital is yet to be realised. Tatkal quota on Chennai-bound trains like Nellai, Pothigai, Ananthapuri, Kanniyakumari, and Senthur expresses get booked within minutes. More than 300 people remain on waiting list regularly.' When contacted, Madurai Divisional Railway Manager Sharad Srivastava said, 'The proposal for a daily train in the route is under process. The decision has to be taken at the top level.'
The Hindu
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
State, Centre agree to bring Sabari rail project on track
After a protracted delay, the State and the Centre have decided to implement the Sabari rail project, a project that was conceived with a view of bringing the Sabarimala temple on the country's rail map. The decision was taken at a meeting of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Tuesday. It was decided at the meeting that an expert committee will visit Kerala in July to bring the project back on track and to kick-start the land acquisition process, said V. Abdurahiman, State Minister in charge of Railways, who accompanied the Chief Minister along with K.V. Thomas, State's special representative in New Delhi. But it is not clear how the issues related to cost-sharing of the project, which was a bone of contention between the State and the Centre, will be sorted out. The Centre had earlier insisted that Kerala should shoulder 50% of the revised estimate of ₹3,810.69 crore. In turn, Kerala had requested that the liability incurred for financing the project through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) should be fully exempted from the State's borrowing limit. The Centre then suggested a tripartite agreement to implement the project, involving the State government, Ministry of Railways, and the Reserve Bank of India. As part of the agreement, the RBI will pay the State's share to the Ministry if Kerala fails to pay its share of the project cost on time and deduct the amount from the Central share of assistance to Kerala for various schemes. However, the State had been insisting on KIIFB financing for the project. The 110-km Angamaly-Erumeli route was first announced in the Railway Budget 1997-98. Land acquisition had been completed in 8 km, while the work on the 7-km stretch between Angamaly and Kalady was completed earlier. Recently, the Southern Railway had said only ₹20 crore could be diverted of the ₹142.70 crore sanctioned for the Sabari rail project in the last Budget for stalled projects, indicating the revival of the project. The State has also sought approval for the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project . Though the Union Minister did not give any assurance at the meeting, he said the alternative proposal submitted by technocrat E. Sreedharan could be considered. The Centre is likely to convey its stance on the project to the State after a meeting with Mr. Sreedharan. The State also reiterated its demand for a third and fourth line to decongest the existing network and speed up trains. The meeting also brought the issue of poor-quality food on the Vande Bharat train in Kerala to the attention of the Union Minister.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
First train on Gadag-Wadi railway line runs today
1 2 3 Kushtagi (Koppal): The historic Gadag-Wadi railway line , extending 257km with a budget of Rs 2,841.8 crore, will begin operations on Thursday, fulfilling a long-awaited the total length, 56.1km was completed, while 201km remains pending. V Somanna, minister of state for railways, will launch the first passenger train service from Hubballi to Kushtagi at Kushtagi of March 31, 2025, the Karnataka govt contributed Rs 489.9 crores to the project. The Gadag-Wadi project represents a crucial railway infrastructure development to improve connectivity in North in 1911The project's origins trace back to 1911, when the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British Indian govt showed interest. The initial cost was Rs 1.86 crore. Former MP Basavaraj Rayareddy facilitated the project's revival in 1996 after numerous delays. A 1998 survey estimated costs at Rs 457.7 crore and a subsequent survey in 2009 led to the project's inclusion in the 2013-14 Railway Budget, receiving parliamentary Kanamadi, the public relations officer for South Western Railway, said the project is being executed in phases, including the 22km stretch from Talkal to Sangnal, 13km from Sangnal to Hanumapur, 10.7km from Hanumapur to Linganbandi and 10.1km from Linganbandi to Kushtagi, with a total of 56.1km already commissioning of the completed 56.1km length involves some political dynamics. Basavaraj Rayareddy, the MLA from Yalburga and economic advisor to the chief minister, reached out to railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, delivering a letter from CM Siddaramaiah, to promote the Gadag-Wadi passenger train service originating from his constituency."I am happy to announce that the 60-km route from Gadag-Talkal-Kustagi and the 45-km route from Wadi to Shahapur are now ready for service. In light of the significant backing from the state govt, I propose that the inauguration be held in Yelburga," Siddaramaiah wrote in a letter dated March Kyavater, a member of the BJP state executive and closely connected to Somanna, organised the event in Kushtagi. This left Rayareddy disheartened, leading him to refrain from making statements or claiming credit for the completed railway told TOI that while the daily timetable for the Kushtagi-Hubballi train is yet to be finalised, it is anticipated to be ready within two days, with one passenger train scheduled to run daily during the initial phase.
