MADURAI
Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) K.A. Manoharan will begin a two-day inspection of the newly converted broad gauge line between New Araynkavu and Edamon railway stations in Virudhunagar-Kollam section on January 12 (Friday).
This section is the final leg of gauge conversion work left in Virudhunagar-Kollam section.
The CRS will begin motor trolley inspection of the section from New Aryankavu to Tenmalai and then from Tenmalai to Edamon on Friday. He will conduct a speed trail with a diesel locomotive from New Aryankavu to Edamon between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Chief Administrative Officer of Railway Construction, which has taken up the work, and a team of officials, led by the Divisional Railway Manager (Madurai) Neenu Ittyerah, will accompany the CRS during the inspection.
The 22-km stretch is part of the 43-km-long ghat section. Train services in this section was stopped in 2010 to facilitate gauge conversion work along the toe of the Western Ghats. The most challenging part of the work was widening tunnels to accommodate broad gauge trains.
The sharp curves that were around 12.5 degrees in the metre gauge section have been reduced to 10 degrees. Five tunnel works had been taken up. A new viaduct has been constructed at a height of 15 metres that will connect two tunnels, according to railway sources.
The 13-span arch bridge at Kazhathuruthi has been strengthened as part of the ₹150-crore work in this section.
The design of the railway line in the ghat section would permit broad gauge trains to run with a speed restriction of 30 kmph, an official said.
Upon clearance for operating train service in this section, train services will resume on the ghat section after eight years. This will provide the shortest route between Chennai and Kollam. It will also give a fillip to tourists and traders of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
At present, Madurai-Kollam passenger trains have been taking a detour via Nagercoil and Thiruvananthapuram.
Besides fund crunch, the tunnel work on a hilly terrain delayed the work that was taken as part of Virudhunagar-Tenkasi -Tirunelveli/Tiruchendur -Kollam project sanctioned in 1997-98.
The first stretch of broad gauge line in this project was opened between Virudhunagar and Rajapalayam in 2003. The section between Shencottah and New Aryankavu was the last stretch to be cleared for train traffic in 2017.
