Renewal of the railway track has commenced in the vulnerable 40-km Kollam-Kayamkulam stretch. The work is being taken up for commuters’ safety. Ballast cleaning has not been taken up in the down line for almost a decade and for two decades in the up line.
Cleaning of the ballast beneath the sleepers using the ballast cleaning machine after enforcing a four-hour line block was not attempted due to lack of ‘corridor blocks,’ increase in passenger trains from Kollam Junction, and special trains for Ayyappa devotees running up to Kollam.
A ballast bed without any dirt and earth is needed for the smooth train movement, draining of rain water, and to absorb the resonance and transfer it to the ground.
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“Without inconveniencing the commuters, we have commenced the track renewal along the corridor when the weather is good,” Divisional Railway Manager Prakash Bhutani said.
As much as 20% cleaning of the ballast in the down line has been completed. After mechanised ballast cleaning, worn-out concrete sleepers weighing 275 kg to 300 kg are being replaced manually. Track renewal has been completed in the 25-km Kollam-Karungapally stretch after enforcing line block. In the Kollam-Perinad section, 5 km of railway track has to be replaced. Railways are waiting for the track relaying train that can relay the track in 400 to 500 metres at a stretch in four-and-a-half hours.
Railways are using rails of 65 m instead of the conventional 13 m. A senior official of the engineering department said four 65 m rails are welded at the steel plant itself and transported to the site. “Thus, only four welding is needed in a km. This reduces the field work and ensures quality. We had also found that fissures develop on stretches mostly where field welding takes place,” he said.
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