Thrissur Railway Passengers' Association, TRPA is the confluence of all the stake holders who are interested in the development of Railway facilities in and around Thrissur. Naturally, all the people who avail Railway facilities from Thrissur and other neighbouring stations are automatically the members of this association. Due to the historic reasons, commuters from Thrissur towards Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Palakkad sides form the active group. TRPA always stands for meeting the public demands and this process is well supported by Railway Men, Political Leaders and the Media in Thrissur. The tireless efforts by TRPA in achieving the long standing basic requirements of Thrissur are well recognised and appreciated by one and all. TRPA is committed to continue its service to the society at large, cutting across all divisions. "Our prime focus is on the sustainable improvement of rail service in the country to world class levels with special emphasis on Thrissur"

Sunday 31 August 2014

Revision in train timings

(Mathrubhumi dt 1-9-2014)
(Malayala Manorama Palakkad dt 1-9-2014)
(Madhyamam dt 30-8-2014)
(Veekshanam dt 29-8-2014)

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Visit by Rly Minister

(Mathrubhumi dt 30-8-2014)
TRPA handing over a memorandum to the Railway Minister
(The Hindu Kochi dt 29-8-2014)
(Madhyamam dt 29-8-2014)
(Malayala Manorama Metro dt 28-9-2014)

Gowda to discuss State’s needs with officials

Steps to overcome the constraints in areas of safety, speed, security, and service will be the focus of a meeting of top railway officials from the State to be chaired by Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda in Kochi on Thursday.
The discussion takes place against a backdrop of a meeting Mr. Gowda recently had in New Delhi with MPs from the State following the alleged neglect towards Kerala in his maiden budget.
All aspects related to the railway network in the State will come up at the meeting, which will be a thorough review of the projects sanctioned in the Railway Budgets over the years and the progress of the works, Railway sources told The Hindu .
This is the first comprehensive review meeting of the officials of the State after Mr. Gowda took over the reins of the Railways.
Rakesh Mishra, General Manager, Southern Railway; Sunil Bajpai, Divisonal Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram; and Anand Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager, Palakkad; will make a presentation that will focus on nine key areas.
Progress of sanctioned works, safety-related works, speed of trains, cleanliness, catering, operating performance, earnings, safety performance for the last five years, and pre-departure constraints will be the core areas in the presentation. These areas form part of the 4S (Safety, Speed, Security, Service) Mission chalked out by Mr. Gowda for the Railways.
The meeting, which will commence at 11 a.m., will also discuss pending projects such as the coach factory at Kanjikode, wagon unit at Cherthala, doubling of the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam sector via Kottayam and Alappuzha, and terminal facilities at Kottayam and Nemom.
(The Hindu dt 28-8-2014)

Monday 25 August 2014

Sunday 24 August 2014

New VRR

(Malayala manorama Metro dt 26-8-2014)
(Mathrubhumi Nagaram dt 25-8-2014)
(Malayala Manorama dt 25-8-2014)

Monday 18 August 2014

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Meeting with Rly Minister

(Malayala Manorama dt 13-8-2014)
(Mathrubhumi dt 13-8-2014)
Railways may retender Kanjikode coach factory again
The prospects of the Rs.550-crore rail coach factory at Kanjikode have brightened with Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday announcing that the project will be retendered again by December.
The retendering to identify a partner for the factory mooted on the public-private partnership model will be subject to clearance of the Union Cabinet, Mr. Gowda said a meeting of MPs from the State.
The meeting was convened by him in Delhi in the wake of complaints that Kerala had been sidelined in the Railway budget.
Instead of setting up facilities for making Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB)-design stainless steel state-of-the-art aluminium coaches at Kanjikode, it was announced that Railways will go for aluminium coaches alone. LHB technology is restricted to a handful of players.
The Minister said the wagon component unit at Cherthala would not be abandoned. The drinking water bottling plant would start functioning in October.
However, Mr. Gowda hinted that the proposed railway medical college in Thiruvananthapuram would not materialise as the Medical Council of India was unlikely to give its nod.
Ten long-distance mail and express trains operating through the State would be provided with a pantry car, he said.
Priority would be given for doubling the Kayamkulam Junction- Ernakulam section via Kottayam and Alappuzha to operate more trains.
Mr. Gowda said funds would be made available while acceding to the request of the MPs.
Electrification of the Shoranur-Mangalore stretch would be completed by March 2016. Gauge conversion of the Palakkad- Pollachi section would be completed by March 2015. On the Punalur- Shencottah gauge conversion, the MPs were informed that Railways would on Friday provide a schedule for completing the project.
The Minister also agreed to look into the demand for increasing the frequency of Rajadhani Express to Delhi and extension of the Karaikkal- Ernakulam Tea Garden Express and the Ernakulam- Ajmer Marusagar Express to Thiruvananthapuram Central. The decision will be communicated to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson P.J. Kurien.
Except Shashi Tharoor, Vayalar Ravi and K.V. Thomas, all MPs from the State attended the met.
N.K. Premachandran, MP, told The Hindu that the priority list was jointly put forward by the MPs and was accepted by Railways.
(The Hindu dt 13-8-2014)

Monday 4 August 2014

Meeting on Keralam

Track doubling, more MEMUs on the wishlist

Rail passenger associations have demanded doubling of track in the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam sector through Kottayam and Alappuzha on a war footing. The demand comes against the backdrop of the scheduled meeting of Kerala MPs and Union Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda on Thursday.
This is critical to speed up trains that are often detained at different points in the sector for other trains to cross single-tracks, and also to introduce more trains, said Thrissur Railway Passengers’ Association (TRPA) and All Kerala Railway Users’ Association (AKRUA), in a press release.
Another demand is to electrify the Shornur-Mangalore sector. “We are also awaiting the approval to introduce automatic-signalling system in place of the existing absolute block system in Kerala. Augmenting terminal facilities for handling and maintaining coaches is urgently needed at Kochuveli Terminus. Construction of coaching terminals at Nemom and Kottayam and more pit lines and stabling lines at appropriate locations is another demand,” said P. Krishnakumar, general secretary of TRPA.
Former MP, P.C. Chacko was among the MP’s who took up these issues in the last Lok Sabha. With development moving at fast pace in Kerala, commuter traffic throughout the State is increasing. To offer seamless transport to the commuters, more MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains and dedicated tracks for them have become essential. Augmenting number of MEMUs is important since many express trains are being converted to superfast express trains after withdrawing many stops, Mr Krishnakumar said.
The association has also demanded MEMUs at frequent intervals during peak hours in the already doubled and electrified Coimbatore-Ernakulam, Shornur-Ernakulam, Guruvayur-Ernakulam and Kayamkulam-Thiruvananthapuram sectors, to provide fast and economical commuting and to decongest narrow, accident-prone national highways.
It has also demanded an intercity express between Ernakulam and Salem, through Coimbatore. Yet another demand is to extend train no. 12133/12134 Mumbai CST-Mangalore Junction Express up to Ernakulam or Shornur. Since passenger patronage for Duronto Express trains to and from Kerala is not satisfactory, the body has suggested that Durontos may be converted to superfast express trains. Much more passengers will benefit, while generating more revenue for Railways.
The AKRUA has demanded that all MEMU trains operate all days of the week, instead of the present six. It has also demanded more compartments to express and weekly trains, many of which now operate with 15 or 16 coaches. Another long-pending demand is to extend train no. 56389 Ernakulam-Kottayam passenger train to Kollam.
(The Hindu dt 13-8-2014)
(The Hindu dt 12-8-2014)
(Madhyamam dt 6-8-2014)
(Malayala Manorama dt 6-8-2014)
(Malayala Manorama dt 5-8-2014)