Members of the Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee and representatives of political parties and trade bodies have decided to meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to request her to include metro rail as an option in the feasibility study for a mass transit project for Coimbatore.
Mono railThe members, who met here under the aegis of the Committee on Tuesday, said that the choice of a mass transit project from the city’s residents was for metro rail.
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But the Chief Minister had recently announced that the State Government would introduce mono rail as the mass transit option in the city. Given the difference in choice, they had decided to meet and brief the CM on the issue, said Member of Parliament, Coimbatore, P.R. Natarajan.
Referring to the suggestion of E. Sreedharan, a former head of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, for a medium metro rail for the city, Mr. Natarajan said that the State Government should approach the mass transit project with an open mind.
Metro rail was more suited for Coimbatore than mono rail as it would carry more passengers at a lower cost and was easy on maintenance in the long run.
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The MP also said that the members had taken strong exception to Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Misra’s comment that the organisation did not have the money required to complete the Madurai-Rameswaram gauge conversion work and that it was for the Railway Board to decide on rerouting trains through Coimbatore.
Rerouting trainsIt was the GM’s duty to write a letter recommending the rerouting of trains, particularly the Kannur-Yeshwantpur train through Coimbatore.
At present, the train passed through Podanur Junction, he added.