Ahead of the proposed high-level meeting between Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Malabar Mysore Rail Road Action Council (MMRRAC) led by environmentalists and retired Forest Department officials have put forth multiple suggestions for the development of rail infrastructure in north Kerala.
The realignment of the proposed Nilambur-Nanjangund rail line is a major suggestion. Because, the government had cleared the proposals to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for two other associated projects, the Thalassery-Mysuru rail line and the Kannur airport-Mattannur rail line, O. Jayarajan, former IFS officer and spokesman of the MMRRAC, said.
“Though the Nilambur-Nanjangund line has found a place in the Pink Book of Railways, the route is facing problems related to environment clearance. Since the present alignment is through the 84-km stretch of forest land, the chances of getting environment clearance may be remote,” he said. He said that it was better to realign the route by bypassing protected areas. It could be realigned from Nilambur through Feroke, Kozhikode and Koyilandy, and link the rail line to Thalassery-Mysuru line at Mananthavady.
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“The construction length will be about 135 km on Nilambur-Feroke and Koyilandy-Mananthavady stretches. By taking up this proposal, Nilambur and Mananthavady can be connected to Kozhikode and Bengaluru. This will be a major boon for Malappuram and Wayanad districts,” Mr. Jayarajan said.
Delayed project
On the long-pending Guruvayoor-Thirunavaya rail line, he said that implementing the project would drastically reduce the distance from South Kerala to Mumbai and Bengaluru. The construction length would be approximately 46 km and the line would benefit the emerging port at Ponnani.
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He said the newly converted broad gauge track of Palakkad- Pollachi would shortly get few trains from the South, including Amritha Express. “But no train service has been proposed towards the north. At least a train from Mumbai to Madurai via Palakkad-Pollachi route would benefit passengers of Malabar,” he added.
To improve rail service in Kozhikode and Kannur regions, the MMRRAC has suggested to extend the Kannur-Yeswanthpur Express via Mangaluru- Mysuru upto Kozhikode. Thus the train would become a connection train to Jan Shatabdi from Kozhikode to Thiruvananthapuram. Also, the people of Kozhikode will have direct connectivity to Mysuru and Bengaluru.
Similarly, the Yeswanthpur-Mangaluru Express via Shravanabelagola (Kudla Express) should be extended to Kozhikode. “This will be another gift to the people of Malabar since there is no day-train to Bengaluru from the region. The trains could be operated without disturbing the existing time schedule,” Mr. Jayarajan said.