Thiruvananthapuram | Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi on Tuesday said that the central government has approved two railway projects that will ease the rail travel woes of people of the state and ensure smoother movement of goods.

Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, said the two projects -- doubling of Alappuzha-Ambalappuzha line and the Palakkad town-Parali bypass line -- will boost Kerala's development.

The minister, in a Facebook post, said that Rs 324.16 crore has been sanctioned for the doubling of the 12.66 kilometer long Alappuzha-Ambalappuzha line.

The project will help to address the bottleneck on the Ernakulam-Thuravoor-Kayamkulam route, he said.

It will also help to operate nine new passengers trains on both directions daily and smooth movement of goods which will lead to a huge increase in the revenue of the railways, the minister said.

Gopi further said that Rs 163.57 crore has been sanctioned for the 1.8 km Palakkad town-Parali bypass line which will reduce the waiting time due to changing of train engines at Palakkad junction.

He said it will reduce travel time of passenger trains by 40-44 minutes and that of freight trains by 120 minutes.

It will also improve the punctuality of trains to Shornur, Thiruvananthapuram and Pollachi, the minister said in his post.

These projects will enhance the railway infrastructure of Kerala and reduce the travel time of rail passengers, Gopi added.