The Railways have awarded two contracts to study ways to speed up train movement in the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru corridor to 130 kmph and later to 160 kmph as part of a nationwide drive to speed up trains.
Efforts are under way to modify tracks within railway land, mainly by straightening curves that abound in Kerala. Other issues such as steep gradient, mainly in the Ernakulam-Shoranur stretch, do not contribute much to slowing down trains, barring fully-loaded cargo trains, say official sources.
Teams have begun work to identify curves that prompt trains to slow down and find out ways to straighten them within the railway land. Based on the GPS details thus arrived at, a low-flying helicopter would capture the data and this would help conduct a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey for the purpose. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given its approval to operate the helicopter which has been kept ready to be pressed into service in the second week of July.
The details thus garnered will help generate a 3D image of the alignment and find out whether there is a need to acquire land. It will also shed light on whether straightening of curves will affect the track alignment at railway stations and bridges en route, the sources add.
The Railways had promised funds to improve tracks and allied infrastructure to speed up trains, considering that the average speed of trains in Kerala is among the lowest in the country.
Third track
Meanwhile, a detailed project report (DPR) for laying the third and fourth tracks on the saturated Ernakulam-Shoranur stretch would be submitted to the Railway Board by July-end, it is learnt. Train movement through the double track in the corridor is among the slowest in Kerala since the tracks in the State have to host trains that converge at stations in Ernakulam through both Kottayam and Alappuzha lines and proceed to the northern districts.
Yet another DPR to double the track at the one-km triangle that connected Vallathol Nagar with Shoranur and the railway cabin on the Palakkad side is expected to be readied in a couple of months and handed over to the Railway Board.
