In the first seven months of the current fiscal, 121-km-long railway tracks in the State has been renewed.
Priority was accorded to safety in the vulnerable corridors of the railway network.
For the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisional authorities, it is a big achievement as the Railway Board had set a monthly target of 22 km in the State.
The record has been achieved at a time when the rail lines are saturated and line blocks cannot be imposed during daytime.
Railways had to face the floods in August, an inclement weather, and the inconvenience of commuters during line blocks.
Compared to the 67-km track renewal carried out in 2017-18 in the Thiruvananthapuram division, Railways had been able to complete 71 km till November. Of this, 45 km of renewal was carried out in the ‘vulnerable’ Ernakulam-Shoranur corridor. The target set for the fiscal year is 210 km.
In the Palakkad division, 50 km of track renewal was taken up in the April-November period against the 86.09 km in 2017-18. In seven months ending in October, renewal of thorough fitting in 64.28 km was also carried out. As much as 79% of the 1,204-km tracks under the Thiruvananthapuram division and 50% of the 1,200 km under the Palakkad division have 52 kg-a-metre rails that have been phased out. Of the 951.16 km that has 52-kg rail in the Thiruvananthapuram division, 200 km has been found to be ‘critical’, needing replacement.
Divisional Railway Manager Shirish Kumar Sinha told The Hindu that the track renewal would go slower from mid-November on account of the 350 Sabari specials being operated for Ayyappa devotees. “Kollam is the terminal for these trains and we will not be able to carry out track renewal as line blocks cannot be enforced even during night,” he said.
Track-relaying train
The track-relaying train that can relay tracks in 400 to 500 m at a stretch in four-hours-and-a-half will also be taken for repairs.
Mr. Sinha said they hoped to overcome the shortage of 65-m long rails and ballast by mid-January after the Sabarimala season when the track renewal will resume. The Southern Railway did not even get a single rake of rails last month owing to problems in the Bhilai steel plant.
