Daijiworld Media Network – (NR)
Mangalore Dec 2: Rakesh Chopra the general manager of Southern Railway inaugurated the Railway Protection Force’s (RPF) Mobilisation Hall in the city railway station premises here, on Saturday Dec. 1. He planted a few saplings and cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the new building of the RPF. He is here mainly to take an overview of the preparation for the Dec. 8th programme of opening of the Mangalore-Bangalore broad guage train service by the Union Railway minister Lalu Prasad.
When in 2003 the then Union Railway minister Nithish Kumar had come to the city to inaugurate the Mangalore-Puttur railway line, he had promised to include the city in South Western Railways after the Mangalore-Bangalore railway line is completed. Now that the said railway line is ready, a few scribes questioned the minister on the said matter.
In response Chopra opined that the idea of creating a separate division with the city as headquarters will not be economically viable. According to him there are certain rules as to where a division should be created. There has to be a minimum distance between two divisions, he added.
People by and large have for long have been demanding a separate division for bringing about speedier growth of the region and early completion of the railway project. When this issue was brought to his attention Chopra retorted "Why don’t you demand a division at every station?."
In his speech he called upon the RPF to live upto the expectations of the railway passengers. In his opinion they play a crucial role in the safety of the railway property and passenger safety. Hence he urged them to be more vigilant. The new hall has about 20 beds and all other facilities including a kitchen. Plans are afoot to construct another storey for the building to accommodate more people.
Speaking about the future business plans, Chopra said the Southern Railways have a target to double the business which stood at Rs. 8 lakh a day at present. With regard to the region in particular he said better passenger amenities were being created and more trains could be expected to run from the city in the near future.
Additional general manager of Southern Railway A.P. Mishra, Divisional Railway manager (Palghat division) A K Harit, assistant commandant O P Mohan were present. Inspector of RPF Mangalore P. Sethumadhavan proposed a vote of thanks.