PALAKKAD: Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) S K Mittal will inspect the Palakkad-Pollachi broad gauge line on October 5 and 6, said a Railway release.
If the CRS clears the broad gauge line, trains will run on the Palakkad-Pollachi-Palani-Rameswaram route after a gap of seven years. Traffic along this route was called off in December 2008 after it was decided to convert the line into broad gauge. Since most of the work had been completed, there were constant demands for the commissioning of the railway line.
The distance between Palakkad and Pollachi is around 55 km, Palani to Pollachi around 62 km and Pollachi to Podanur around 40 km.
“There was a total of ten trains (both up and down)-- two connection trains to Pollachi and three direct trains to Madurai and Rameswaram when the services on the metre gauge section was called off seven years ago. Therefore, the Palakkad division should operate a minimum number of five trains to Tamil Nadu and the Madurai division should reciprocate with atleast five trains”, said Kollengode rail passengers association president Erattu Murugan.
As the Pothanur-Pollachi line would take another two years to open due to problems related to land acquisition, the Madurai division will have to contend itself by operating trains on the 63 km Palani-Pollachi section. The work on the Dindigul-Palani section was completed in 2012 and the trains began to run in November 2012.
