The Kerala Government has sought the inclusion of the proposal for creation of a Peninsular Railway Zone in the forthcoming Railway Budget.

The Minister for Public Works, Mr M Vijayakumar who is holding additional charge of Railways in the State said that the prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh had promised a Peninsular Railway Zone at the time of the formation of Salem Division.

The Government has, in a memorandum to the Centre, demanded that the headquarters of the zone, comprising five divisions in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, be located in the State.

The other demands included nine new trains, doubling of tracks, new railway lines, electrification and the setting up of the proposed rail coach factory in Palakkad. The Minister said that the Union Government had sanctioned nine other new railway zones in the country even while ignoring the State's demand for a separate railway zone.

The Union Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee did not even grant permission to Kerala delegates to discuss railway development projects in the State with her, he alleged and said that the State was still awaiting an opportunity to meet her directly and convince her of its requirements.

Apart from the coach factory in Palakkad, another pending demand was the establishment of a wagon factory in Cherthala.

Though the Palakkad coach factory was sanctioned in the railway budget for 2008-09, it was yet to materialise even after the steps for acquisition of land had been completed. The wagon factory in Cherthala has been conceived as a joint venture between Steel Industries Kerala Ltd and the Railways.

The minister said that some of the other promised, but unfulfilled projects, in the State include the setting up of a railway medical college in Thiruvananthapuram and the development of five major railway stations to international standards.

(Sourced from BL)