With yet another Railway Budget round the corner, hopes have rekindled in the minds of the people about the realisation of the rail coach factory at Kanjikode, near here.
The coach factory and early completion of the gauge conversion between Pollachi and Palakkad have been the two major demands of train commuters here for long. Work on the much-delayed gauge conversion is expected to be completed in another one month period.
“It is the delay in identifying a partner for the public-private partnership that has slowed down the coach factory project so far. We hope the Railway Budget will have some concrete announcements about establishing the factory,” said M.B. Rajesh, MP. Several representations had been submitted to Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in this regard.
“There was inordinate delay and negligence in the case of coach factory. The rail wheel plant at Chhapra, coach factory at Rae Bareli, and the diesel component factory at Dankuni sanctioned along with it had already commenced production. But Palakkad is yet to get its due,” says Arumughan Pathichira, a social worker. The State government has already handed over 92.04 hectares of land to Railways for the project. Though construction of a boundary wall began last year, only 70 per cent of it has been completed so far.
