THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the completion of infrastructure development projects, the speed of trains in the state of Kerala will be increased to 100 to 110 kmph, said Divisional Railway Manager Divyakant Chandrakar. He was inaugurating the Independence Day celebrations in the Thiruvananthapuram division.

The track renovation in Kerala has completed 103.147 km. As per the Amrit Bharat Station Renovation Project, 15 stations in the division will be renovated. Of these, Chirayinkeezhu and Kuzhithura stations have been inaugurated. Chalakudy, Thrippunithura, Changanassery and Vadakkanchery stations will be inaugurated in October. Last year, Rs. 548.19 crore was spent on infrastructure development projects.

Thiruvananthapuram Division earned a revenue of Rs 2323 crore in the last financial year. Of this, Rs 1705.71 crore was from ticket sales. Rs 41 crore was earned through the transactions conducted by the ticket inspection department. One lakh people travel in Thiruvananthapuram Division alone every day. Ticket sales revenue increased by 4.84%. This generated an additional revenue of Rs 570 crore. Last year, 1104 metric tons of cargo was handled in Thiruvananthapuram Division. This generated an additional revenue of Rs 116.25 crore. The DRM also said that it was an achievement that half of the unreserved tickets in the division could be transferred online and to the UTS mobile app.

11881 products were sold in 45 instalments at 17 stations under the One Station One Product scheme. Local artists earned an income of Rs. 13.33 lakh through this. 1703 special train services were operated in the division last financial year. This is 94% more than the previous year. This time, 48 special services will be operated in the division on the occasion of Onam. The increase in Vande Bharat coaches to 16 has benefited the passengers. MEMU services have been shifted to a 16-coach rake. 257 children who went astray were rescued, 180 cases of illegal trafficking were registered and Rs. 31.76 crore was seized.