Konkan Railway gears up for smooth operations during Southwest monsoon

The 740-km long Konkan Railway route is all set for the Southwest monsoon. This year as the fight against the second wave of Covid-19 strengthens, Konkan Railway continues to be fully committed to the welfare of its passengers. All efforts are being made to maintain track and passenger amenities ensuring all safety-related guidelines, said Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd Deputy General Manager Girish R Karandikar,

He said the Monsoon timetable will come into effect from June 10 and will be continued till October 31. Passengers should check train status online during monsoon by visiting the website www.konkanrailway.com.

All planned safety works on this route from Kolad to Thokur have been completed. Special attention has been given to catch water drain cleaning and inspection of cuttings. The large-scale geo-safety works executed along the railway line in the last few years have significantly reduced the incidences of falling of boulder and soil slip, thus ensuring safe running of trains. No major disruption to train services had occurred on account of boulder fall during monsoons in the last eight years, Karandikar said.

The Konkan Railway will conduct monsoon patrolling as per the prescribed guidelines to ensure safe running of trains. About 681 personnel will patrol the Konkan Railway route during the monsoon. Vulnerable locations will be patrolled round the clock and stationary watchmen will be deployed for 24 hours at critical locations. Speed restrictions will be imposed at vulnerable locations. BRN-mounted excavators have been kept ready at strategic points for quick movement in case of any emergency, he explained on the safety measures.

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Instructions have also been issued to loco pilots to run the trains at a reduced speed of 40 kmph in case of heavy rainfall when visibility is limited. Self-propelled ARMVs (Accident Relief Medical Van), with the provision of Operation Theatre and emergency medical aid have been kept ready at Ratnagiri and Verna (Goa). The ART (Accident Relief Train) has also been kept ready at Verna (Goa).

Both loco pilots and guards of trains have been provided with Walkie-talkie sets as well as every station on Konkan Railway is equipped with a 25 Watt VHF base station. Emergency Communication (EMC) sockets have been fitted at an average distance of 1 km along the Konkan Railway route that enables the patrolmen, watchmen, loco pilots, guard and other field maintenance staff to contact Station Master and control office during any emergency situations.

Self-recording rain gauges have been installed at nine stations – Mangaon, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Vilwade, Kanakavali, Madgaon, Karwar, Bhatkal and Udupi – which will record the rainfall in the region and alert officials in case of increased rainfall.

Flood warning systems for bridges have been provided at 3 locations – Kali river (between Mangaon and Veer), Savitri river (between Veer and Sape Wamane), Vashishti river (between Chiplun and Kamathe) – and will alert officials in case of flash flood in the river when water flow reaches above danger Level.

Anemometers have been installed at four locations – Panvel viaduct (between Ratnagiri and Nivasar), Mandovi bridge (between Thivim and Karmali ), Zuari bridge ( Karmali and Verna) and Sharavati bridge (between Honnavar and Manki) to monitor the wind velocity, he added.