The Southern Railway on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it would not be feasible either to reduce the speed of trains operated between Palakkad (Kerala) and Podanur (Coimbatore) or divert some of the trains through the Palakkad-Pollachi-Coimbatore route to prevent the death of elephants due to train hits.
Appearing before a Division Bench of Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar, Southern Railway counsel P.T. Ramkumar said, the trains between Palakkad and Podanur were operated at a speed of 45 kmph between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. and it would not be possible to reduce the speed further due to the gradient.
He said the trains’ speed was calculated based on ‘attacking speed,’ below which the trains would not be able to negotiate in a given gradient and curvature. Running the trains below the least permissible limit might endanger the safety of passengers, especially during the night hours, he cautioned.
