Kottayam: The 634-km-long Trivandrum to Mangalore railway corridor will be fully double-track with the completion of the second line between Ettumanoor and Chingavanam railway stations in Kerala's Kottayam district in May. This is set to speed up the running time of trains passing through Kerala.
The inspection by the Railway Safety Commissioner will be held on the Ettumanoor-Chingavanam stretch in the third week of May. The commissioning of the track is expected by the end of May.
Except for the 16.5 km stretch from Ettumanoor to Chingavanam railway stations in Kottayam district, the entire Trivandrum-Mangalore railway currently has a double-track. Once the doubling work here is over, the time taken by trains to pass through Kottayam district will get drastically reduced.
Though the earlier plan was to finish the doubling work on the stretch in 2020, it got delayed for two years due to multiple factors such as floods and COVID-19. The uncertainty over the land acquisition also delayed the doubling work.
After the ongoing renovation work of the Kottayam railway station, Kerala government will be able to approach the Centre with the demand for operating more trains through the route.
