Pathanamthitta: Southern Railway hasn’t been able to commission the electrified railway line in the Punalur – Shenkottai section, even one and half months after conducting a trial run using an electric engine. The main obstacle is the delay in commissioning the Punalur and Shenkottai traction substations that supply electricity in the line. The trial run was held on the route on February 27. The train was operated by receiving electricity from the Veeravanallur substation in the Thenkasi – Thirunelveli route. However, it is not practical to run the train every day by taking electricity from here. The state is likely to lose the Vande Bharat train that was allowed in the Kollam – Shenkottai route due to a delay in commissioning the traction substation. The trial run of Vande Bharat didn’t happen as the electrified line wasn’t commissioned.
The KSEB is supposed to supply electricity to the traction substation in Punalur. However, the contract procedures regarding the same remain incomplete. The construction of the Punalur substation was completed before the construction in Shenkottai began. Immediately after the construction of the substation was over, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board began supplying electricity.
Meanwhile, the electrification works in Kerala are constantly getting delayed due to the incompetence of KSEB. TNEB supplied electricity to the Shenkottai station by pulling cable up to a length of 15 kilometres using towers and one and a half kilometres underground. Meanwhile, KSEB has been struggling to pave the cable in a stretch of just two and a half kilometres for months. The Railway had handed over Rs 28 crore to the KSEB for the electrification works. The Vande Bharat train in the Kollam – Shenkottai route and the MEMU services in the Kollam – Thirunelveli route could be flagged off only after commissioning the electrified lines.
