EFFECTIVE USE OF EXISTING RAILWAY RESOUCES IN COIMBATORE

                                                                                        

EFFECTIVE USE OF EXISTING RAILWAY RESOUCES IN COIMBATORE

BYE-PASSING of the Coimbatore junction by long haul trains  and  the

railways proposal   for  DOUBLING THE IRUGUR - POTHANUR single

railway line is generating strong opposition from a  influential

section of people.

WITH due respects to them ,  I would like to  draw your attention to

the possible benefits  of the above plans.

Not long ago GANDHIPURAM is the only destination for all city buses,

mofussil buses, THIRUVALLVAR STATE EXPRESS BUSES and expensive but

comfortable OMNI buses. It was convenient to all stakeholders;

travelling public and their friends and relatives  who are sending

them off  / receiving them, both public and private bus operators and

their staff, Taxi / Auto drivers,  traders, lodging and boarding

houses ; almost all.

Then the Ukkadam, Singanallur, Mettupalayam mofussil bus stands  and

the OMNI bus stand near GP / ELLEN HOSPITALS were came into service.

Perhaps some more mofussil  bus stands may come up on AVINASHI ROAD (

peelamedu / kalapatti / CODDISIA )  and SATHY ROAD ( ganapathy). All

these new developments are not convenient to all sections of people.

Still we accepted it because of the inevitability of the change

necessitated by ever increasing crowd.

If we use same logic, then we will not only accept  but whole

heartedly welcome the   BYE-PASSING of the Coimbatore junction by long

haul trains  and  the railways proposal   for  DOUBLING THE IRUGUR -

POTHANUR single  railway line.

No TIER II city is so endowed with a super most energy efficient form

of Transport which is already available in our  Coimbatore. An MRTS

of ready availability ! (17 + 6 KILOMETRES of electrified  double railway track)

 To realize this potential, We must get away from the mind set of

Gandhipuram, RS puram, Race course centered city growth. Let us think

of Avinashi to Mettupalayam, Sathy to Pollachi, and Palakadu to

Somanur as part of Coimbatore Mega city

 We must treat Pothanur Railway Junction as  THE COIMBATORE DISTRICT

 ( or)  GREATER COIMBATORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY JUNCTION for all the

Traffic passing through Coimbatore (Tirupur to Palakad and beyond

Traffic).   What is the point in   routing these long haul trains

through Singanallur, peelamedu etc.  to Coimbatore city junction

(without any stoppages  enroute ) consuming fuel, space, time  (of

both passengers and railways ) without any tangible / intangible

benefit to the common city folks, except the harassing / harassed

shopkeepers and the taxi / auto operators.

Frankly speaking, What is our problem with the Pothanur Railway

Junction? Lack of connectivity,  is it not?  It is not at all a

problem : rather it is a golden opportunity to   develop  a new  Bus

terminus near Pothanur Junction  with town buses,  mini buses, share

autos, ordinary autos, call taxies etc.  for the hassle free travel of

railway passengers boarding / alighting at pothanur. In effect , we

will have a satellite railway junction immediately  without any mega

investment.

  Thus freed railway line capacity between Irugur and Coimbatore

Junction via Singanallur and Peelamedu can be used for city commuter

traffic. THIS WILL BENEFIT ALL COIMBATOREANS (RESIDENTS AND VISITORS)

 It is not that we should abandon the Coimbatore junction. Rather, we

must make it more passenger friendly and congestion free for

Coimbatore city folks. Let us be very clear that all the trains

originating and terminating at Coimbatore junction should continue to

do so. Further, all the Coimbatore bound trains must stop at Irugur,

Singanallur, Peelamedu, Coimbatore North and some more stations/halts

to be created in proximity with Avinashi road (near CIT / CMC /

CODDISIA / IT PARKS), Avaram palayam Road ( near Sri Ramakrishna

Hospital),   Sathy Road (near Aswin Hospitals / Textool)  and a few

more if demand is there. In effect, it will make a significant segment

of the Coimbatore city roads free from traffic congestion. Especially,

it will make the Coimbatore junction    people friendly  and crowds

will be manageable. Also it will improve the connectivity and thereby

increase the  value of the residential / commercial / industrial

properties along the IRUGUR-PEELAMEDU-North Coimbatore railway line.

It will benefit not only the Coimbatore citizens but also the

frequently visiting populations from Palladam, Tirupur, Erode and

Salem, Palakadu, Mettupalayam etc, too.  And some more COIMBATORE

terminating  trains (both from Tirupur and Palakkadu ) can be extended

up to Mettupalayam so that we can reduce the enormous road traffic in

the Mettupalayam High way.  By applying the same principle, we can

serve commuters from Pollachi side too,  once the gauge conversion is

completed.

Perhaps,  we may discuss these ideas in

appropriate forums. { Coimbatore city corporation,  District

Administration, Railway  user groups, Educational Institutions, Trade

unions, CII and the likes, media (both print and electronic )

CODDISSIA, SIMA, SITRA etc.etc

PROPOSED WORKPLAN IN THE AREA OF  e -  BANKING TECHNOLOGY


Replace   petty cash of the customer  AND the cash box  at  the point
of sale with  mobile phone.

    To  begin with,  enabling the purchase of  unreserved RAIL TICKETs
  WITHOUT THE  presence of  ticketing clerks at the railway station
counters  is my    first step.

DESCRIPTION


In India millions of Railway passengers are buying reserved tickets
using cash / credit cards at the railway  booking offices   /  agents
or through internet./  mobile phones.
But buying an UNRESERVED TRAIN TICKET  is a nightmare  during peak
hours / holiday seasons/ week ends.


Given the huge number of mobile users with sufficient ENGLISH TEXTING
SKILLS we can make the people to define their unreserved  ticket
requirement easily in SMS by providing a customized template

FOR UNRESEVED TICKETS PURCHASE it is very easy, because it contains
only a few entries.

Name of the ORIGIN STATION      ……………………………………….

Name of the destination STATION  ………………………………………
Class of ticket I / II / A/C /

When the passenger enters the above information on the template
provided in the cell phone and sends the SMS to a specific number , he
should be issued a confirmation message



If need be a printed ticket can be given to the passenger from a
simple TICKET printer gadget.

{ YOU CAN SEE THESE KIND OF PRINTERS HUNG AROUND THE NECK OF   MANY A
BUS CONDUCTORS IN TAMILNADU  }




WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM?

No need to handle cash.   ;

No need to stand in the QUEUE,

No need to POSITION A TICKETING CLERK

In short , the ATMs in the bank reduced our visits to the bank and
improved our life considerably.

 Like wise this mobile wallet will reduce the drudgery of cash
HANDLING and queue in our daily chores.

It can be extended to bus tickets purchase / utility /  grocery  /
payments  too.