The Palakkad Division of the Southern Railway has begun the process of installing more signalling systems in north Kerala to improve the speed of trains in the sector.
R. Bhaskaran, Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunications Engineer, Southern Railway, inspected a new Intermediate Block Section (IBS) at Mahe railway station recently. On commissioning, the facility will be helpful for operations in a larger way, officials said.
At present, an express train from Mahe to Vadakara takes 10 minutes to clear the section. For passenger and goods trains, it takes 12 to 14 minutes. Once IBS is rolled out at Mahe and Vadakara, an express train will take less than five minutes to proceed from Mahe to Vadakara or vice versa. In the case of passenger and goods trains, it will be six to seven minutes. The IBS facility was in the final stage of execution, officials said.
To improve operational efficiency, the Palakkad Division had commissioned an IBS between Tikkotti and Vadakara in September last week.
The signalling arrangement introduced in the section bifurcates the 12.61-km-long block section between Tikkotti and Vadakara. This helps in avoiding detention of trains on both sides, besides ensuring punctuality and enhancing line capacity in the section.
Prior to the introduction of IBS, express trains took 10 minutes, while passenger trains took 18 minutes (including stoppage time at the two halt stations in the section), whereas goods trains required 13 minutes to pass through the section between Tikkotti and Vadakara.
Officials said that the IBS facility between Tikkotti and Vadakara was the sixth in the division. It is available on Kanjikode - Walayar (in B-line ghat section), Palakkad Junction - Parli, Parli -Lakkidi, Payyannur - Charvattur, Kanhangad - Kottikulam and Kumbla - Manjeswaram sections.
