Kottayam: The tunnel journey between Muttambalam level crossing and Kottayam station, which kept the passengers in the dark for a while, is now remembered. The trains will run through the twin tunnels, which were the hallmark of the Kottayam Railway Station, ending on the 26th. That evening, trains will run on the new track, bypassing both tunnels.
Work on cutting the old track at Muttambalam and connecting it to the new track will begin on the morning of the 26th. Its initial operations began on Tuesday. This is a ten hour job. The train will run on the new track on the evening of the 26th. Two new routes have been constructed from Kottayam station to Muttambalam. Due to construction work, trains do not run through Kottayam during the day. Only evening services are available.
The tunnels are near the Rubber Board office and the plantation office. The first attempt was to build a double track by constructing another tunnel near the tunnels. It was decided to build two new paths outside because of the lack of soil firmness here.
The tunnel near the rubber board is 84 meters long and the one on the plantation side is 67 meters long. The tunnels were built in 1957. Metroman E Sreedharan, then a railway assistant engineer, was also involved in the construction work.
Six workers lost their lives when the wall of the tunnel collapsed during construction. The accident happened when mud and stones fell from a height of regarding 30 feet. It was October 20, 1957. KK Gopalan, KS Parameswaran, V.K. The deceased have been identified as Kunjukunju, Krishnan Achari, K Raghavan and R Balan.
Railway authorities had erected a stupa near the flyover to record their names and the date of the accident. The stupa was removed from here when a new bridge was built near the Plantation Corporation.
Five days of construction work is fast approaching
Kottayam: The construction work on the Kottayam double track will be completed in five days.
The railway authorities are trying their best to run the train on the Chingavanam-Ettumanoor double track on the 29th itself. The security check was completed on Monday.
There is still work to be done to connect the new road with the old road.
Along with the addition of roads, complex work related to signal and electricity remains.
Traffic has been restricted on the Kottayam road for 10 hours during the day. Near the Parole Gate and at Muttambalam, connect the new road with the old road. This work of cut and connection is crucial. Authorities hope to complete the work with full traffic control for 10 hours a day on the 28th and 29th.
The old road at Muttambalam should be connected to the two newly constructed roads. Two new tunnels have been constructed to bypass the two tunnels here. This should be connected to the routes at Kottayam stations. Signal systems also need to be connected with changes as the paths connect. Work on the parole will begin on the morning of the 29th. Even if the train starts running on the new track, the yard work still needs to be completed.
Memories that never fade when the tunnel disappears
When he remembers the twin tunnels, he recalls that Metroman E. Sreedharan was also involved in the project at the end of construction: –
‘I am coming to Kottayam as a Railway Assistant Engineer. It has been only a year since I joined the service. He has been involved in tunnel construction for the last eight months. It took three years to complete the construction.
The tunnel was constructed in the cut and cover style. The construction was done by cutting the soil and covering it with concrete. It was during this time that the tragedy occurred. The death of six people in the landslide is still a painful memory. I arrived in Kottayam following the accident. Judicial inquiries were held that day. It was later considered a natural disaster. The tunnels were built to the size of a broad gauge. The location of the Kottayam Railway Station itself is unique. The first platform is below. This very feature of the land was the challenge of tunneling. There are many ways to build a path without building a tunnel. But there was no other way and there were more problems than I thought. The challenge was to get the soil down. The reason why I oppose the construction of K-Rail is because of the same problem.
Platform number two from today
Kottayam: Traffic on platform number one at Kottayam railway station will be completely closed from Wednesday evening. The train will pass through platform number two for three weeks. This is part of the completion of work on the track doubling on platform number one. The train passed through platform number one on Tuesday.
Train service canceled today
Kottayam: The Ettumanoor-Chingavanam double track trains were canceled on Wednesday.
1. Train number 12623: MGR. Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram
2. Train No. 12624: Thiruvananthapuram-MGR Chennai Central
3. Train No. 16526: KSR Bengaluru-Kanyakumari
4. Train No. 16525: Kanyakumari-KSR. Bangalore
5. Train No. 16649: Parasuram at Mangalore-Nagercoil.
6. Train number. 16650: Nagercoil-Mangalore Parasuram.
7. Train No. 12081: Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Central Janashatabdi.
8. Train No. 12082: Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kannur Janashatabdi.
9. Train No. 16302: Thiruvananthapuram Central-Shornur Venad.
10. Train No. 16301: Shornur-Thiruvananthapuram Central Venad.
11. Train No. 16327: Punalur-Guruvayur.
12. Train No. 16328: Guruvayur-Punalur.
13. Train No. 06449: Ernakulam-Alappuzha.
14. Train No. 06452: Alappuzha-Ernakulam.
15. Train No. 06444: Kollam-Ernakulam Memu.
16. Train No. 06443: Ernakulam-Kollam.
17. Train No. 06451: Ernakulam-Kayamkulam.
18. Train No. 06450: Kayamkulam-Ernakulam.
19. Train No. 16791: Tirunelveli-Palakkad.
20. Train No. 16792: Palakkad-Tirunelveli.
21. Train No. 06431: Kottayam-Kollam
