SR to set up 3 bomb detection squads in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 (UNI) Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese today said bomb detection and dog squads would be set up in three important stations in Kerala soon.

Talking to newspersons here, he said in the wake of frequent bomb threats, the squads would be introduced in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode stations in the first phase.

Mr Varghese said Railways had earned Rs 2,230 crore as revenue from both passenger and freight traffic during the three quarters ended December 2006, registering a 20 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

While the income from passenger traffic stood at Rs 1,243 crore, an increase of Rs 218 crore more than the corresponding period in the previous year, the revenue from freight traffic was Rs 880 crore, registering an increase of 19 per cent.

Regarding the doubling works of Ernakulam-Alappuzha-Kayamkulam and Ernakulam-Kottayam-Kayamkulam sector, Mr Varghese said Rs 300 crore was required for the project and even if the fund received it would take three years to complete the work.

On the Guruvayoor-Tanur line, he said some disputes on land acquisition was delaying the work.

The GM informed that the Southern Railway had urged the Union Railway Ministry for electrification of Thrissur-Guruvayoor, Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari and Mangalore-Shornur sectors.

He said no more computerised reservation system would be introduced at railway stations as the railway was planning to popularise I-ticketing and E-ticketing systems.

Earlier, as part of endeavouring to improve passenger convenience, the Thiruvananthapuram Division had set up a call centre at the Divisional Office at a cost of Rs 30 lakh. With the commissioning of call centre, the pressure of telephone enquiry at the information centres of various stations of the Division would be eased, he added.

UNI