The long-overdue project to double the railway track in the 46-km Thuravur-Ambalappuzha corridor has got a shot in the arm, with the 56th Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting under the PM GatiSakhti initiative that met on Wednesday to take stock of railway and highway works deciding to include the stretch in the scheme of things, informed sources said.
A formal order from Railway Board approving the project is expected in October, while its Rs 1,262 cr estimate is expected to be approved latest by December, they added.
The 46-km stretch is part of the 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha rail corridor (through the Alappuzha route) – the sole corridor in Kerala where track doubling is overdue. The Railway had divided this stretch into three reaches for being doubled – Ernakulam-Kumbalam, Kumbalam-Thuravur and Thuravur-Ambalappuzha, for faster execution. The estimate for the first two reaches had been sanctioned earlier, while uncertainty prevailed over the plight of the 46-km Thuravur-Ambalappuzha corridor.
“It is good that the NPG is convinced of the necessity to speed up the track-doubling process, since the introduction of a pair of Vande Bharat trains in Kerala has intensified the demand to speed up express, passenger and cargo trains. Their average speed is now very low, in stark contrast with trains in most other States. Once the Railway Board accorded its sanction for the project and its estimate, the Railway would deposit the amount needed for land acquisition and place its request for land acquisition,” sources said.
The land acquisition can be completed within a year by 2024 end, if the State Government extended its full support, while the track-doubling process can be completed in yet another two years - by 2026 end. Earth/mud needed to lay the track and for bridges would have to be transported from Kottayam, they added.
In the meantime, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden said in a release that doubling of railway track in the 46-km corridor and in the two other reaches in Ernakulam and Alappuzha would considerably reduce travel time through the corridor, including for regular commuters and tourists. It will also help faster ferrying of cargo from Vizhinjam port to Kochi port, and the movement of coir and also other export-oriented products, considerably benefiting Kerala’s economy.
Even as the entire track through Kottayam was doubled over a year ago, doubling of the 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha stretch was hanging fire.
