Infrastructure maintenance woes at Ernakulam Junction delaying Vande Bharat service to Bengaluru
Delay in completing drains at marshalling yard and technical glitch in electrification of pit line have worsened the problem
The operation of the third Vande Bharat Express rake that was allotted to Kerala a week ago and was in all probability set to operate in the passengerdense ErnakulamBengaluru corridor remains mired in uncertainty, thanks to grossly inadequate number of platforms at the Ernakulam Junction railway station.
The alleged delay in completing drains at the marshalling yard and a technical glitch in the electrification of the pit line on the premises have compounded the problem, it is learnt.
Passenger associations had been repeatedly flagging the inadequate number of platforms at the station and the inordinate delay in extending the length of three of the total six platforms at the station.
Innumerable express and other trains are thus detained at the outer of the station owing to inadequate number of fulllength platforms that are needed to accommodate 24coach trains.
Passengers’ associations have been citing how problems posed by the acute shortage of platforms at the station from morning till noon can be overcome to a certain extent if the stop of the ThiruvananthapuramShoranur Venad Express at the station was shifted to the Ernakulam Town station that is located approximately 3 km away. This in turn will enable the station to accommodate the third Vande Bharat that was allotted to Kerala, they say.
Yet another suggestion of passenger associations is to extend the service of the ErnakulamKaraikal Express to Kottayam, thus shifting its stop from Ernakulam Junction to Ernakulam Town. There is also demand for refuelling points at all platforms to operate the generator car to speed up the refuelling process.
The inadequate berthing space in Ernakulam had resulted in the third Vande Bharat rake being taken to Kollam initially and later to Kochuveli.
Expressing hope that the train will begin operating shortly in the ErnakulamBengaluru corridor as a special service, sources said this would be the second Vande Bharat rake having eight coaches, the first one being the ThiruvananthapuramMangaluru train. The first such train that operated in the ThiruvananthapuramKasaragod corridor has a total of 16 coaches.
They added that platform space could be hewed out for Vande Bharat at Ernakulam Junction if passengers cooperated with the Railways in shifting the stop of Venad Express to Ernakulam Town. The extension of platforms at Ernakulam Junction might be taken up after the Lok Sabha polls since the marshalling yard too will have to be remodelled.
A Vande Bharat Express rake that had been brought to Kochuveli a month ago to be operated in the ErnakulamBengaluru corridor had been taken away to be operated on the MysuruChennai route.