Ettumanoor-Chingavanam second rail line set for commissioning, safety check over

Kottayam: The newly-laid second railway track between Ettumanoor and Chingavanam on the Kottayam route is all set for commissioning with the completion of the safety inspection on Monday.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Abhay Kumar Rai, inspected the track in two phases from the Parolikkal gate, near the Ettumanoor station, till Chingavanam.

The trolley inspection was held in the morning, while speed trial was conducted in the evening. The speed trial was conducted with a train that comprised one engine and two bogies.

Rai expressed satisfaction over the inspection and hoped the 16.5 km-long track could be commissioned on Saturday.

With the opening of the Ettumanoor-Chingavanam second line, the 634-km-long Trivandrum-Mangalore railway corridor will be fully double-track. This is set to speed up the running time of trains passing through Kerala.

Though the earlier plan was to finish the doubling work on the stretch in 2020, it got delayed for two years due to multiple factors such as floods and COVID-19. The uncertainty over the land acquisition also delayed the doubling work.

After the ongoing renovation work of the Kottayam railway station, Kerala government will be able to approach the Centre with the demand for operating more trains through the route.