Immediate renewal of tracks in 600 locations in the railway network of the State detected by ultrasound flaw-detection system has commenced as Railways do not want to risk safety.
The late running of trains that has invited the ire of the commuters is on account of the track renewal without enforcing ‘corridor block’ (time between two trains). The number of spots requiring immediate renewal which was just four in 2015-16 in the State has gone up to 600 in 2016-17 with the introduction of new norms in the manual of the ultrasonic testing of rails and welds, putting the railway authorities under pressure. Two OBS (Observation) flaws detected in rail in the ultrasound in four metres have been converted to one immediate renewal (IMR) in the revised manual following a series of fatal accidents. Besides, one OBS in 100 metre of a bridge is being treated as one IMR. This has resulted in the number of vulnerable spots going up by 150%.
Speed restrictions
Divisional Railway Manager, Prakash Bhutani, told The Hindu that Railways had to restrict the speed in the stretch marked as IMR to 30 km per hour and the engineering department will have to replace the rail immediately. Around 90 minutes to two hours is needed for welding works and for rail replacement.
“As hardly any corridor block is available for undertaking these work, we are forced to detain trains and replace the rail marked as IMR. The rail users need to cooperate with us to complete the work as safety of commuters is paramount to us,” Mr. Bhutani said.
Another challenge is to accomplish the complete track renewal of 180 km due in the State. This will take 15 to 20 days for a track km.
Railways are also looking into why the longevity of the rail is only 15-20 years in Kerala compared to the 25-30 years in other States. The corroded points and crossings in the Kalamaserry and Chalakudy yards were replaced. The Divisional Railway Manager said the priority is for track renewal in the Shoranur-Ernakulam corridor and south of Kayamkulam. “We are trying to get one more machine for track laying,” he said.
