The Railways have awarded two contracts to study ways to speed up train movement in the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru corridor to 130 kmph and later to 160 kmph as part of a nationwide drive to speed up trains.
Efforts are under way to modify tracks within railway land, mainly by straightening curves that abound in Kerala. Other issues such as steep gradient, mainly in the Ernakulam-Shoranur stretch, do not contribute much to slowing down trains, barring fully-loaded cargo trains, say official sources.
Teams have begun work to identify curves that prompt trains to slow down and find out ways to straighten them within the railway land. Based on the GPS details thus arrived at, a low-flying helicopter would capture the data and this would help conduct a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey for the purpose. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given its approval to operate the helicopter which has been kept ready to be pressed into service in the second week of July.
