Royapuram terminal needs land, says Union railway minister Sadananda Gowda

CHENNAI: Union railway minister Sadananda Gowda, who was in Chennai on Friday to inspect Royapuram railway station, said that he would write to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on its suitability as a third terminal for the city. “There is a space constraint at the station. I will ask the CM to sort out the issue and acquire the necessary land,” Mr Gowda said. According to the feasibility report, the proposal for five lines would require 3.58 hectare of land while three lines would call for 0.76 hectare.

Mr Gowda was accompanied by Union minister Pon. Radhakrishnan, state BJP president Tamilisai Soundarajan,  general secretary Vanathi Srinivasan and Mayor Saidai Duraisamy. Seven apprentices out of about 3,500 who have been working at the ICF for more than a decade demanded jobs from the minister. Central station spruced up: One upshot of the minister’s sojourn in the city was that Central railway station was witness to a spruce up operation on Thursday. Scheduled to visit it on Friday, he cancelled as his flight was delayed.

But commuters noticed the difference: fluorescent lights in areas that were usually dark, sweepers putting in 12 hours of work instead of the customary eight and going without food and sleep to have the Central station looking spick and span. “I wish a minister would arrive here every day. Even an announcement would do,” said R. Deepak, a regular commuter.

Meanwhile Need Ra 5Lakh crore for TN projects: Union railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda

Vellore: The railways need at least Rs 5 lakh crore to complete the many projects that it had announced earlier for Tamil Nadu, said the Union railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, at a press meet held at Katpadi railway station on Friday. He said the railways had only Rs 60,000 crore as liquidity and he wanted to continue the many projects of the previous government without politicising the budget. He said, “our intention is only to deliver the ongoing projects satisfactorily.” He said the ministry had been approaching FDI and private entrepreneurs for funds to complete the pending projects.

He inaugurated wi-fi connectivity for the convenience of passengers at the station and this would also be linked with some important trains that passed through Chennai Central. Slowly the connectivity will be introduced in other A1 and A grade stations. The railways would extend the facilities of battery operated cars to facilitate differently-abled and senior citizens at Kozhikode and Mangalore Central railway stations. The cars were available in Chennai Central, Egmore, Trichy, Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore stations.