Padil-Kulashekar double line Railway section commissioned

The double line section between Padil and Kulashekar including the new tunnel (Tunnel No 4B) has been certified fit and commissioned for the movement of trains.

The service of Train No 12618 Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Junction Mangala Lakshadweep Express passed through the newly commissioned double line section.

In the upward direction, the service of Train No 12617 Ernakulam Junction - Nizamuddin Mangala Lakshadweep Express passed through the newly commissioned line and a new tunnel. Southern Railway took four hours of work for three days from March 17 to 19 for the disconnection work, and on the final day 11 hours of work for cutting, connecting and signal interlocking.

On completion of work, the new Electronic Interlocking panel became functional at Padil Station. With the completion of doubling work, the Jokkatte - Padil double line section came into existence and the temporary operational station maintained at Kulashekhar got eliminated. On completion of the work, train services from /to Mangaluru and trains passing through Mangaluru are now following the normal train schedule, said M K Gopinath, Public Relations Officer, Southern Railway, Palakkad Division.

Benefits

Padil - Kulasekhara doubling work for a length of 2.26-km (including a new tunnel of 780-m on the Up line) is the 4th and final stage of 19-km patch doubling work between Mangaluru Junction and Panambur.

With the doubling of the Padil-Kulasekhara section, a bottleneck in train operations due to the presence of a short single line section (2.26-km) has been solved. With the commissioning of the double line in the Padil -Kulasekhara section, Railway can efficiently utilise Mangaluru Junction-Jokatte-Panambur section.

At present, coaching trains are frequently held up at Mangaluru Junction and Jokkatte for want of passage, especially when trains are running out of path (running late). Freight trains are to be moved in between the coaching trains whenever path is available. Hence freight trains were frequently detained at Panambur and Jokkatte stations. With the introduction of doubling, detention to these freight trains will also be minimised. The new infrastructure will ease the operation of both passenger carrying and freight trains.

Tunnel No 4B

The new tunnel (No 4B) is the highlight of the project. This is the fourth railway tunnel in the Palakkad Division jurisdiction. Apart from the existing tunnel in Kulashekar, other two tunnels are on the up and down line between Kasargod-Kottikulam.

The tunnel is 780 metres in length and 6.18 metres in breadth. The height of the tunnel is 6.8 metres. Conventional drill and blast method was used for carrying out the work on the tunnel. The project cost was approximately Rs 70 crore.