The speed restriction being imposed in the 33-km ghat section between Palakkad and Madukkarai due to the presence of wild elephants is causing bunching of trains in Palakkad Railway Division and preventing Railways from introducing more trains in the sector.
The speed of the trains in this sector is restricted to 65 kmph during the day and 45 kmph at night because of the presence of elephants along the route. Eight elephants have been killed after being hit by trains in the Kerala forest side since 2018. The speed of the trains was further restricted to 35 kmph at night following two elephant deaths in recent weeks.
The speed limit is constraining Railways heavily, causing bunching up of several long-distance passenger trains. “People are heavily depending on Railways, but they hardly realise the situation. We are currently running out of capacity,” said Divisional Railway Manager A.K. Chaturvedi.
Plan for speed increase
The bunching of trains appears a big problem especially as the Palakkad division is preparing to increase the speed of trains from the existing 110 kmph to 130 kmph between Shoranur and Mangaluru. “We will be able to introduce new trains only if we increase the speed to 130 kmph. But the ghat stretch between Palakkad and Madukkarai poses constraints on us,” said Mr. Chaturvedi.
Railway officials said that any speed restriction would have a cascading effect and could hit the rail traffic badly at times. “Those who clamour for speed reduction often fail to see the whole picture. Rail traffic often suffers because of speed restrictions,” said Mr. Chaturvedi.
Palakkad railway division has about 540 km of rail, 400 km of which is from Mangaluru to Podanur. The division has 65 km rail from Shoranur to Nilambur, and about 75 km from Palakkad to Pollachi.
A survey for speed enhancement between Shoranur and Mangaluru is over. The work will involve stabilisation of formations, increasing of sleeper density, strengthening of bridges, and barricading of several trespass locations.
“Even when we increase the speed from 110 kmph to 130 kmph along the Shoranur-Mangaluru stretch, the stretch from Palakkad to Coimbatore will continue to remain a cause of major worry for us,” said Divisional Electrical Engineer (Operations) Anoop V.
Diversion via bypass
Although there was a proposal to divert some trains via the Palakkad-Pollachi route by constructing a bypass line from Parali to Palakkad Town, it remains in limbo. Mr. Anoop said that the proposal was still live, and feasible as well. “The Pollachi line is underutilised. And there seems to be no feasible alternative to avoid traffic congestion between Palakkad and Coimbatore because of the speed restriction,” he said.
If routed through Palakkad Town, the trains will have to bypass Palakkad Junction.
Another option will be to construct an elevated corridor through the forest having elephant presence to overcome the issue of speed limit. But it will involve a heavy financial burden on Railways.
Published - June 10, 2024 08:19 pm IST
