Even as 2026 end was estimated as the deadline to complete track doubling in the bottlenecked 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha rail corridor, the Railway Board’s sanction is awaited for doubling the 46-km Thuravoor- Ambalappuzha track that passes through Alappuzha.
This is reportedly because of what is being cited as ‘low-rate of return’ from the passenger-train-dense corridor, until container movement through rail from the upcoming Vizhinjam port picked pace.
The Railway Board lays emphasis on viability of projects. Speedy completion of doubling the 69-km single-track Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha rail corridor and also of the one-km triangle that connect Vallathol Nagar with Shoranur and the railway cabin on the Palakkad side, hold the key to completing track doubling in Kerala, official sources said.
Slow train movement
The Railway has for long been citing detention of trains in these two single-track corridors, the plethora of steep curves on tracks and the far too many halts at stations, as among the reasons for even express trains moving at a very slow pace in Kerala.
“Land acquisition on the Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha rail corridor can be completed in a year, if the State government hand over land on time. The laying of second track could take another two years, because it entailed construction of many bridges as well,” they added.
Earlier this year, Railway officials were optimistic that the long-pending track doubling in the 46-km Thuravoor-Ambalappuzha corridor would gather momentum since the 56th Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting under the PM Gati Shakti initiative that met in September to take stock of railway and highway works had decided to include the stretch in the ‘scheme of things’.
Formal order
They were hopeful of getting a formal order from the Railway Board, approving the project and its ₹ 1,262 crore estimate, latest by December.
Aimed at completing speedy doubling of track, the Railway had divided the 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha corridor into Ernakulam-Kumbalam, Kumbalam-Thuravoor and Thuravoor-Ambalappuzha reaches. The estimate for the first two reaches had been sanctioned earlier, while uncertainty still looms large over the plight of the 46-km Thuravoor-Ambalappuzha corridor.
Once doubled, the running time of express and commuter trains would considerably reduce, while ferrying of cargo from Vizhinjam port to Kochi port can be done within limited time.
Apart from doubling this corridor, doubling of track of the one-km triangle that connect Vallathol Nagar with Shoranur and the railway cabin on the Palakkad side, too is crucial to complete track doubling in Kerala.
Bear full cost
The Railway had earlier this year agreed to bear the entire cost of the two pending track-doubling projects in the State, including that of land acquisition.
