This report was published in The Times of India on 27/02/2015
The state definitely has the legitimate right to argue for higher railway density, said Centre for Socio-Economic and Environmental Studies, Kochi director N Ajith Kumar.
“Kerala’s rail density, defined as total length of lines operated (km) per 1,000 sq km, is only 0.03 against the national average of 0.05. The railway route length of Kerala is just 1.6% of the total route length in India. This is less than the share of the state in country’s population and country’s geographical areas,” said Kumar.
“The state definitely has the legitimate right to argue for higher railway density. But in the absence of vast tracts of land and high land value in the state, increasing the length of railway tracks has always been a problem. It is in this context that we need to view the new priority setting by the Indian Railways,” he added.
“As the railway density is low, most of the tracks are running beyond capacity, Kumar observed. “The track doubling work is at a slow pace. The automatic signalling system and other changes for quicker movement of trains will help the passengers not only in the form of faster travel but also by facilitating the running of more number of trains,” he said.
“In the short run, we need to think of projects for improving the current track capacity utilization along with track doubling. It is heartening to note that the budget has announced track doubling in Chengannur-Chingavanam stretch, Amabalappuzha-Haripad stretch and Ernakulam-Kumbalam stretch and nominal allocations for a few other stretches” said Kumar.
Once the track doubling in Thiruvannathapuram-Ernakulam stretch (both via Alappuzha and Kottayam) is completed, it may be feasible to start a suburban train service in this stretch. Kerala, being a state with hardly any distinction between rural and urban areas, is fit for starting suburban service. Suburban train service is going to be more cost effective than the monorail project, he pointed out.
The Kerala government should liaison with other states to get more long-distance trains to the state, Kumar said. “The Union railway minister has postponed the decision on new trains and new tracks. In the argument for new long-distance trains to Kerala, we need to liaison with other states through which it passes. For instance, Kerala has been facing large inflow of migrants from Assam, West Bengal and Odisha. Trains from any these states may be equally beneficial to our state. Already, the trains from these states are running in full capacity. The state should jointly lobby with these states for new trains,” he said.