KOZHIKODE: Electric trains will run along the 84-kilometre stretch between Kozhikode and Shoranur stations by April. If things go as planned, the trial run could be started within a few days, sources with the Railways said.
The trial was delayed due to the delay in commissioning the stretch by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). A senior official said that the first railway overbridge near the Kozhikode station was yet to be sanctioned by CRS after it was recently lifted to put up electric poles.
“The trial run could be started only after the commissioning. Steps are afoot and CRS officials will shortly visit the stretch,” he said. In the first phase, only MEMU trains will be operated between Kozhikode and Shoranur. Passenger, Express and Superfast trains will be operated only after the electrification on the Shoranur-Mangalore stretch is completed.
Meanwhile, the Railways expects that the construction works of the substations could be started soon as the land acquisition had been completed in Tirur after paying the landowners due compensation.
The track electrification work on the Shoranur-Mangalore stretch is under the Chennai project unit of the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), Allahabad. With the electrification project completed, the Railways is contemplating different measures including deployment of a women contingent as security officers on trains, repositioning of the women’s compartment to the middle of the train. MEMU trains will be operated between the stations and the delay occurring in Shoranur for loco changing could be averted, the official added.