Stakeholders cry foul at paltry allocation for key rail projects in Kerala

Only ₹10.16 crore allocated for Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha track doubling

The little or nil allocation in the recent Union Budget for projects that would have speeded up train movement and also helped augment the number of trains in Kerala has invited considerable flak from railway officials, passenger bodies and people’s representatives.

The foremost among the long-overdue projects which need urgent attention is doubling of the Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha track, for which a meagre ₹10.16 crore was allotted in the budget. “This is because the Railway Board has not yet sanctioned the detailed estimate of ₹2,693 crore that had been submitted in June 2021 to double the crucial 69-km corridor. Works worth at least ₹150 crore, including construction of a bridge parallel to the one-km-long Aroor bridge, could have been taken up this fiscal had adequate allocation been made in the budget,” sources said.

The entire Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha stretch can be doubled by December 2024, if the State government hands over the land required by this year-end. The double track holds the key to speed up train movement in the Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam corridor and beyond, they added.