: Kerala today made a strong pitch for setting up a new Railway zone headquartered at Ernakulam and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.
The plea in this regard was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in letters to Modi and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
The Chief Minister suggested that Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions be amalgamated to form a single zone which can be headquartered at Ernakulam.
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Vijayan also said plans to hive off the Thiruvananthapuram-Tirunelveli and Nagercoil-Kanyakumari lines from Thiruvananthapuram division and be made part of Madurai division should be prevented.
A Joint Venture company Kerala Railway Development Corporation had been formed for developing railway infrastructure.
He pointed out one of the main reasons for non completion of Palakkad coach factory, high speed rail corridor and various railway lines-- Thalassery-Mysore,Angamaly-Sabarimala and Guruvayur-Thiruvanavaya was that Kerala does not have a railway zone and the office was in Chennai.
Hence, to find a solution, from Kanyakumari to Mangaluru peninsular railway zone, it is necessary to give sanction to the railway zone, he said.
To decrease the rush at the Thiruvananthapuram railway station, Nemom, which comes under corporation limits, satellite facilties are being provided.
At this juncture,if Thiruvananthapuram-Tirunelveli and Nagercoil-Kanyakumari lines are shifted from the division, it would impact development activities in the state, the Chief Minister said.
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