Konkan Railway Line to Have 20 New Stations Soon

Konkan Railway Line to Have 20 New Stations Soon

Mangaluru: Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) chairman and managing director Sanjay Gupta had an interaction with the members and guests of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the subject of railway goods transport on Saturday.

Speaking in particular of the location of railway stations on the Konkan division, he said the required maximum distance between stations was 10 km. But on the Konkan line, stations were located as distant as at 19 kilometres like Gokarna and Kumta.

The KRC had a plan to set up 20 new railway stations on this line. If implemented, the average distance between stations could come down to 10 to 11 kilometres. This would also reduce the incidence of trains waiting for signals to turn green.

He also revealed that dualization of tracks in railway stations was in progress. Whether all such works should be taken up all at once or at specified stretches one at a time would be decided after discussions with Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu, he said.

The Byndoor station was being developed under public-private participation (PPP) basis. Interested parties could come forward with their proposals. Similarly, if anyone could make land available for goods transport facility at Mulki, the KRC would fully cooperate in the matter, he also said.

He added that goods transport was being accorded high priority by the KRC. If large consignments had to be sent on long distances, trains could be booked on an exclusive basis. The roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) facility was working well at the KRC, he also said.

Regarding the carving out of a separate Mangaluru railway division, he said that the matter was under consideration.