In a major step towards providing faster and updated information on rail services, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Tuesday announced in the Lok Sabha launching of call centres under public-private partnership and conceded the demand that the Kerala Express between Thiruvanathapuram and Delhi not be extended to Chandigarh.
Replying to a marathon debate on the 2005-06 Rail Budget, he announced several new services for the southern part of the country and asserted that there would no compromise in safety and security aspect.
The House, later, passed the vote on account for two months and also gave its nod for the Supplementary Demands for Grants of over Rs 2,750 crore (Rs 27.5 billion) and relevant appropriation bills.
The minister said private partners would have to bear the cost of setting up of the call centres as also running them.
This would be done through open tender system and a part of the income generated would go to the Railways, Lalu said, adding that Bharat Sanchar Nigam has been providing 15 paise per call to RailTel in Bihar.
Conceding the demand of people from Kerala and Delhi, Lalu said that the Kerala Express -- 2625/2626 -- between Trivandrum and Delhi will not be extended to Chandigarh as announced earlier in the Budget.
However, keeping in view the demands of the people of Punjab and Haryana, he said the Kerala Sampark Kranti Express, which is scheduled to start its operations this month, would be extended to Chandigarh.
In his 30-minute reply, the minister announced that a weekly would be started between Ernakulum and Bangalore. The frequency of the Trivandrum-Mangalore-Maveli Express would be increased to thrice a week from bi-weekly.
Prasad assured that Quilon-Punaloor gauge conversion will be completed during the 2005--06 period.
In the wake of demands from the people of Kerala for more trains from Trivandrum, he said a 50 kilometre-long new track doubling work would be undertaken. This will be in addition to the doubling work between Ernakulam and Kottayam via Kayamkulam.
He said five new rail overbridges would be established in Kerala in addition to 52 on which work was in progress.
