Southern Railway begins work for second elephant underpass near Coimbatore

Southern Railway begins construction of 2nd underpass for wild elephants near Coimbatore, TN-Kerala railway line, with 9 trains diverted & 2 cancelled.

The Southern Railway has begun works for the second underpass for wild elephants on the railway line linking Tamil Nadu and Kerala near Coimbatore.

Two temporary girders were placed on the ‘B’ line (of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ twin single line) between Ettimadai and Walayar stations on December 14, after suspending traffic through the line.

The Railways diverted nine trains towards Coimbatore and two trains towards Walayar via ‘A’ line for the works. Coimbatore – Shoranur MEMU (06805) and Shoranur – Coimbatore MEMU (06804) were cancelled.

Traffic through the ‘B’ line resumed after the successful placing of the two girders with inbuilt track at the location ‘KM 506/900 – 506A/00’.

Officials with the Southern Railway and its Palakkad Division are closely monitoring the works. After the construction of the concrete structure, temporary girders will be replaced by composite girders with track.

The first underpass, also on the ‘B’ line and first of its kind implemented by the Southern Railway, was commissioned on June 10 this year. Built at the location ‘KM 505A/400 -500’, it has 18.3 m width and 6 m height.

Wild elephants started using the underpass for safe crossing of the railway line, which passes through Solakkarai reserve forest of Madukkarai range of the Coimbatore Forest Division, soon after its commissioning. With elephants have patronised the underpass, the Railway and Tamil Nadu Forest Department expect that fatalities of the pachyderm on the track will come down drastically.