A ministerial-level delegation from Kerala will meet Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to press for the Nemom satellite coaching terminal project which has been abandoned by the Railway Board citing that the project is not feasible.
Speaking at a joint press meet called by Ministers V. Sivankutty, Antony Raju and G.R. Anil, Mr. Sivankutty said: “We will meet the Union Minister along with MPs from the State requesting to review the decision to abandon the project. A public convention will be organised to plan protest programmes and mount pressure on the Union government as the Centre has been turning a blind eye to the demands of Kerala for quite some time.”
The Thiruvananthapuram Central, which handles about two-and-a-half times the original capacity of trains, and Kochuveli stations are currently inadequate to meet the rising traffic demands. In addition, the traffic along the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochuveli route is often choked due to overcrowding of trains during peak hours.
Now, the Railway Board, after laying the foundation stone for the project in 2019, says it was not feasible. “We suspect there was a large cover-up and conspiracy behind abandoning the project. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan and the State BJP have not responded to the issue so far. MPs Shashi Tharoor and Adoor Prakash should make clear their stance on the issue,” said Mr. Sivankutty.
The date for meeting the Union Minister and the public convention would be decided after an initial deliberation among the Ministers.
After prolonged queries from John Brittas, MP, the Railway Board informed him that after examining the proposal, the board had decided to drop the project. In the letter, the board said that in order to meet the traffic demands in the Thiruvananthapuram area, a second coaching terminal at Nemom had not been found justified.
The second coaching terminal at Kochuveli can take care of the traffic on completion of the terminal work. Accordingly, Nemom was not found justified and therefore not sanctioned, the communication said.
