THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The 69th Divisional Railway User Consultative Committee (DRUCC) of Trivandrum Railway Division met at the DRM office Thiruvananthapuram.
Nine DRUCC members of the reconstituted committee attended and Divisional Railway Manager Prakash Bhutani presided over the meeting, V C Sudeesh, Sr.Divisional Commercial Manager, Trivandrum Division and Secretary DRUCC and branch officers attended.
The punctuality and safety of train operations were discussed in the meeting, and DRM said that safety in train operation is given top priority. Defects noticed during frequent Ultra Sonic Flaw Detection(USFD) tests, on rails were kept under observation or replaced depending on the magnitude of the flaw.
Till 2016, the minor flaws which were dealt as “Under Observation, (OBS)” was modified and two OBS with in 4 metre are considered as unsafe, and to be replaced immediately, similarly OBS within 100 metre of a bridge is regarded as unsafe and will be replaced immediately. This has been strictly implemented after the Karukutty incident. For replacing the rails trains are invariably regulated. This has increased the rails to be replaced to increase to more than 20 times.
Regarding the cancellation of passenger trains temporarily, it is observed that railway is reviewing it and they will be restored in phases till the end of sabarimala season. It was decided to recommend for stoppage of Parasuram express at Chirayinkeezh Railway Station. It was decided to relay to production units to modify Disabled cum Luggage Van coaches as vestibuled, to keep them in centre of the trains as per the suggestion of member.
The stoppage of Ist class ordinary & 3rd AC through unreserved ticketing system will be proposed for resumption as per request of DRUCC, This will help senior citizens to get eligible concessions and also enable passengers to board Rajdhani for short distances. Doubling upto Ettumanur from Kurupanthara to be completed by 30.04.2018 and addressing the land acquisition problem by state government would be critical for this. Further Lifts and escalators are planned in more stations
R Krishnan, representative of Chamber of Commerce, Alappuzha. And DRUCC member, has been elected as the divisional nominee to Zonal Railway User Consultative Committee, Southern Railway, Chennai.
