Kochi: The yard remodeling work at Angamaly station to be completed by the railways on Saturday will have historic importance as the work includes linking of the small section of the proposed 191-km long Sabari rail line. “Technically speaking, upon completion of the work by Saturday noon, trains can be run to whatever distance till where the rail line has been laid. After the Guruvayur-Thirunavaya line, this is the first occasion when a new railway line is connected to the mainline,” said a senior railway official. The project, aimed to connect Angamaly with Erumely, was sanctioned in 1998 but was moving at a snail's pace since then. The 7.5 km Angamaly-Kalady line was built in 2010, but the project came to a standstill due to fund crunch and alignment issues.
“The signaling works as part of the yard remodeling works are already over. What now remains in the ‘Cut And Connect Work’ when a new line is added. Technically now trains can be deviated from Angamaly and run upto Kalady upon completion of laying rail lines at a few stretches,” the official said. After years of non-action, the project got a fresh lease of life two months back when the State government recently sanctioned creation of two Land Acquisition (LA) units while acting on a proposal submitted by the district revenue authorities. While acquisition has been completed in the Angamaly-Kalady section, nearly 350 acre remains to be acquired in Kunnathunadu, Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam taluks in the Ernakulam district.
Meanwhile, the modernization works at Angamaly will result in smooth train movements. “The new signaling system using microprocessor-based electronic interlocking equipment replacing the existing relay-based system will bring down signal failure incidents experienced frequently in the section. The Southern Railway has effected rail traffic regulations on Saturday for facilitating the work.
