No unmanned level crossings in Kerala: Piyush Goyal

There are no unmanned level crossings in Kerala, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday while laying the foundation stone for the new coaching terminal at Nemom here through video conferencing.

He also unveiled the indigenously developed WAP-7HS passenger locomotive.

"The present government has consistently focused on development for all areas in the country. Focus has been on large-scale infrastructure creation both physical and social," he said.

The new coaching terminal at Nemom will help in decongesting the already overloaded current coaching terminals, and the Indian Railways can start providing a large number of new trains, which will either originate or terminate in Thiruvananthapuram, a release issued by the Southern Railways said.

Goyal said all the stations in Kerala have converted to LED lighting.

"The Indian Railways is committed to faster development of Kerala and committed to make Kerala a better tourism destination, which will help transform the local economy and give a big boost to generation of employment, and improve customer amenities and facilities for all the people using trains in Kerala.

"Indian Railways has started three new trains in Kerala namely Kochuveli - Indore Weekly Express, Thiruvananthapuram - Nizamuddin Weekly Express via Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram - Nizamuddin Weekly Express via Alleppey," he said.

The "most powerful passenger locomotive of the Indian Railways is capable of hauling 24 coaches at 160 kmph instead of 140 kmph", the minister said.

He said it has been designed and manufactured at the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) and will help trains run larger distances much faster.

It will also improve the operation of premium trains, Goyal said.