With the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) giving the nod to operate trains on the newly laid 18.3-km Ambalappuzha-Haripad corridor, Railways are bracing to complete the doubling of the Kayamkulam-Ambalappuzha stretch of the coastal railway in four months.
The corridor cleared by Commissioner of Railway Safety K. Manohar after an inspection on February 26 will be thrown open for train operations on March 14 at 80 km per hour, an official said.
Underbridges
Railways have built seven road underbridges in place of seven level crossings in the stretch for hassle-free movement of trains and road users. Once trains start running on the newly laid line, the construction wing will take up the work to extend the eight subways in the next four months. As part of the doubling works, the nine level crossings in the stretch will be provided with interlocking signals, enabling swift movement of road users. “The closing of level crossing gates for the movement of trains will be limited to three minutes once the interlocking signals are provided,” the official said.
The Ambalappuzha-Haripad stretch got an outlay of ₹13.95 crore for doubling in the 2020-2021 Union Budget. The 31-km Kayamkulam Junction-Ambalappuzha doubling, taken up at an estimate of ₹450 crore, will improve the operational efficiency and punctuality of trains. Delay in making available land has hit the doubling of the 68-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha corridor. A decision on doubling the stretch is yet to be taken as Railways are demanding cost-sharing of the project by the State. A sum of ₹750 crore is needed for acquiring land, official said.
