COIMBATORE: Here’s good news for those with a spiritual mind. With the completion of gauge conversion work between Pollachi and Palakkad, major pilgrim centres in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka will be interconnected and one can expect a pilgrim package from the Railways any time soon.
Speaking to Express, the additional divisional railway manager Mohan A Menon said the Railways would develop this route as a pilgrim circuit and introduce more services. The prime consideration would be re-establish the services that were stopped to facilitate gauge conversion and introduce more trains in a phased manner.“This pilgrim circuit was formed after a techno-economic study and it has vast potential. But for it to become a reality we have to complete the Pollachi-Palakkad stretch. Most of the works in the stretch is over and the Commissioner of Railway Safety SK Mittal will carry out inspection by the middle of June. Hopefully, we will be able to commission the line by the month end,” Mohan added.
The Kollur Mookambika temple in Karnataka, Guruvayur temple in Kerala and Murugan temple in Palani, Meenakshi temple in Madurai and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu are the major pilgrim centres that would be interconnected once the line is commissioned. Smaller centres such as Dharmasthala can also be accessed. Not only Hindus, but also people belonging to other faiths will benefit as Ervadi and Velankanni, both in Tamil Nadu, will have access through this circuit.
The distance from Kollur to Rameshwaram is 825 kilometres and regular services will be operated once work on the Palakkad-Pollachi stretch is completed. Gauge conversion work in other stretches of the route are over and train services are currently available. “The distance between Kollur and Guruvayur is 425 kilometres and services are available in this stretch.