and Industry, Coimbatore
Press Release
February 13, 2009: Interim Railway Budget 2009-10
Chamber is disappointed that none of our main demands have found mention in the Railway budget announced by the Hon'ble Minister for Railways.
Though Coimbatore is a major manufacturing center in the country, witnessing rapid growth in economic activity and the second largest city in Tamil Nadu many bottlenecks remains unaddressed.
The doubling of track between Coimbatore North Junction and Irugur is proceeding at very slow pace.
The Gauge Conversion between Coimbatore to Dindigul and Electrification of the Coimbatore-Thoothukudi Stretch is also going very slow and needs to be speeded up. Formation of Circular Railway covering Coimbatore Junction - North Coimbatore - Ganapathy - Peelamedu - Singanallur - Irugur - Podanur - Coimbatore has not even been mentioned as a future project.
Introduction of Trains Every One Hour between Coimbatore-Erode, Coimbatore-Mettupalayam, Coimbatore-Palakkad, Podanur-Pollachi trains between Coimbatore and Tirupathi, Coimbatore to Thiruvananthapuram, Introduction of an Exclusive Night Train between Coimbatore and Bangalore are long pending demands of the people of Coimbatore which have not been considered.
Development of Coimbatore Junction and Extension of Platforms 1 & 2 to accommodate trains with 24 bogies, improving the infrastructure at Coimbatore North Junction, Peelamedu Station, Singanallur Station and Podanur Junctions, provision of additional special ticket Counters during festival and peak season, provision of waiting hall in Platforms 3 & 4, provision of one more Sub-way and provision of waiting hall & refreshment Rooms.
However our Chamber welcomes the efforts of Railway Minister Mr. Lalu Prasad for earning a cash surplus Rs.90,000 crore before dividend for the last five years without imposing any burden on the common man, in spite of the fact that last year witnessed a financial turmoil and worldwide recession.
Our Chamber also welcomes the fare cut of 2% in 1st AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC and chair car and introducing and extending the following trains to Coimbatore / Tamilnadu.
1. Extension of Jodhpur - Bangalore express to Coimbatore. This is a long standing demand of our Chamber which has now been announced.
2. Coimbatore - Tuticorin Link Service (daily)
3. Sengottai - Erode passenger (daily)
4. Tiruchchirapalli - Madurai express (daily).
Mahendra Ramdas
President