The interminable hold up of trains at Kuruppanthara and Ettumanoor stations in the Ernakulam and Kottayam section will soon be a thing of past with the railway authorities set to open a second track along the eight kilometre stretch.
Officials said the Commissioner of Railway Safety is slated to carry out the statutory inspection and speed trail of the track on March 15. An authorisation from the CRS will be followed by signalling and related works and the track will be set for commissioning by April first week.
While the constructed speed of the section will be 110 km per hour, the department expects the CRS to approve a section speed of up to 90 km per hour, which could be raised at a later stage based on the annual track report by the CRS and by evaluating the weather conditions. The opening of the new line will also ensure a smooth passage of trains from Ettumanoor to Ernakulam, saving a running time of up to 10 minutes along the route.
Of the two Railway over bridges along the stretch, the Ettumanoor-Neendur ROB was already complete while works on the Mathur ROB is progressing fast.
Meanwhile, the authorities have commenced preparatory works for doubling of tracks between Ettumanoor and Kottayam.
To facilitate the works, the old ROB at Nagambodam near Kottayam railway station will be demolished using explosives later this month.
Official sources said the train traffic along the stretch would be regulated during the day of explosion as the overhead power cables would have to be detached ahead of the explosion. Upon clearing the debris, the authority will examine the fitness of the track underneath, before resuming traffic.
Approach road
The approach road linking up the old ROB will be cleared at a later stage, sources said.
The doubling of the 19 km long Chingavanam –Kottayam section is slated to extend well beyond the target date of March 2020 owing to a delay in acquisition of land.
The railway seeks to take over 3.5 hectares of land spread across two villages for setting up a second line along the stretch.
