The Hindu Business Line : Single tracks halt optimum use of Konkan Rly

The Konkan Railway recently completed 10 years of commercial operations. When the rail line connecting Roha, in Maharashtra, to Mangalore, on the Karnataka-Kerala border, was being built in the 1990s, it was hailed as the aspiration of the nation. The rail link straightened the west coast rail corridor. It was a task that Indian Railway’s creators, the British engineers, wanted to take up seriously but could not because of the unusually difficult hilly terrain north and south of Ratnagiri.

Finally, when the project was taken up and completed during 1990-97 under the leadership of the present Delhi Metro Rail Chairman, Mr E. Sreedharan, it became an engineering marvel. The 760-km Konkan rail route has 53 stations, 179 major bridges, about 1,600 minor bridges and 84-km of tunnelling at 92 locations. It also boasts of the longest railway tunnel in Asia — the 6.5-km Karbude tunnel near Ratnagiri. Now, more than 10 years later, the Konkan Railway is still far from its objective of becoming the most preferred mode of transport on the West Coast for freight and passenger traffic.

It is yet to achieve commercial viability of operation due to low volume of traffic.

The main reason for this is the severe traffic bottlenecks occurring on the track from day one, as the rail line was constructed as single-line broad-gauge tracks. The original project had planned for double-line high-speed traffic (160km/hr) tracks. Difficulty in getting funds was the reason for compromising on the double-line concept. It was hoped that the rail line could be upgraded at a later stage.

Of the initial estimated cost of Rs 1,040 crore, the Railway Ministry agreed to chip in 51 per cent. The then Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, came forward to make available 22 per cent from the State’s coffers. Karnataka agreed to cover 15 per cent. Goa and Kerala agreed to contribute six per cent each.

However, a two-year drag in project execution pushed up the project cost to Rs 3550 crore, leading to borrowing from market.

REAL DRAG ON TRAFFIC

Now, the single track is proving to be a real drag on Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC). Passenger and freight trains are forced to halt almost at every station to allow trains from the opposite side to pass. This is holding up traffic. A 10-minute wait to gain entry to stations and delayed departures from there are regular features.

As a result, the number of passenger trains being operated on the Konkan route is only less than a dozen pair.

The fastest train running on this route, the Delhi-Trivandrum Rajdhani Express, could have cut five hours of its journey time if the tracks were double. Despite the priority accorded by the Managing Director of the Konkan Railway to the movement of more income-generating freight trains, industries coming up in the Konkan area prefer to move their goods by trucks.

The clamour for doubling the tracks has started. The former Konkan Railway Managing Director, Mr Ketan Gokhale, has recently stated that track doubling is a must to meet the needs of the high investment developmental projects coming up in the area. These include the two Special Economic Zones (Mumbai SEZ in Raigad district and Navi Mumbai SEZ in Panvel-Uran region), Rewas deep water port project and Navi Mumbai airport project.

The Canara Chamber of Commerce and Industry too has sought speedy doubling of the tracks. It also wants KRC to exploit the tourist potential on the Konkan route and open a new railway station at Porkodi near Mangalore airport to draw air passengers.

Recently, Mr Sreedharan, who served as the first Chairman of Konkan Railway, said doubling of tracks is smoother now as technology has improved. Funds availability is less cumbersome. Even enlarging or realigning tunnels on the route would be easier because of improved tunnelling technology. So, it is time to double the tracks to realise the full potential of the Konkan Railway.

(The author was a senior consultant at Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi.)