RPF to start an all-women force

PALAKKAD: The Railways would raise an all-women force for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to ensure the safety of women passengers, Union Minister for Railways Dinesh Trivedi said on Tuesday. Speaking after inaugurating the foundation stone laying ceremony for the coach factory in Kanjikode, at a function held at Fort Maidan here on Tuesday, the minister said the special force would be deployed in all evening trains.Describing the murder of Soumya, who was pushed out of a moving train and was raped and murdered thereafter by a handicapped person last year, as brutal, Trivedi said such atrocities against women would not be allowed to happen.“Though there were demands for additional trains, its safety and security needs to be looked into,” he said.Regarding the overall functioning of the Railways, the minister said that there was an urgent need for doubling and tripling the lines and ensuring the modernisation of railway stations. “The Kanjikode factory will manufacture aluminium coaches utilising the latest technology,” he said.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, in his presidential address, noted that Kerala stood by its demand for a separate railway zone. He thanked the department for posting a senior officer in Thiruvananthapuram to take care of the department’s developmental activities in the state. The chief minister said that there are a number of mega rail projects on which the state places high hopes. “Kochi Metro project and a high-speed rail corridor are on the anvil. A mono-rail project for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram was also under consideration,” he said.According to him, eco-friendly bio-toilets are the need of the hour. “I hope the coaches produced from Kanjikode will have this facility,” he said.  Minister of State for Railway K H Muniyappa, Minister for Power Aryadan Muhammed , MPs M B Rajesh and K E Ismail, MLA Shafi Parambil, member of the Railway Board (mechanical) Sanjiv Handa, chairman of the Railway Board Vinay Mittal, president of the District Panchayat T N Kandamuthan, president of the Pudussery panchayat K N Sreedevi and municipal chairman Abdul Khudoos spoke on the occasion.General manager of Southern Railway Deepak Krishan welcomed the gathering while Divisional Railway manager Piyush Agarwal proposed a vote of thanks.