Indian Railways traffic mostly restored on most major Kerala routes: Piyush Goyal

Train traffic on all major routes earlier disrupted due to damage to tracks by floods in Kerala has been restored, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

"The traffic between Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercoil, Ernakulam and Kottayam, Ernakulam and Shoranur, Palakkad and Shoranur, Shoranur and Kozhikode, and Kollam and Punalur has been resumed after completion of repairs," Goyal said. The Indian Railways staff is still working to restore traffic on the Punalur-Senkottai-Thrissur-Gururvayur tracks, which were heavily damaged.

"The work on this section is going on at a war footing, and the route is likely to be ready for trains within two-three days," the Minister said. Almost all train services, except for a few for want of pairing rakes, have been restored in the state.

"Due to unprecedented monsoon rains and consequent opening of dams in Kerala, three divisions of Southern Railway were severely affected due to heavy floods, landslips and boulders on tracks," the Minister said.

Goyal said that in the Thiruvananthapuram division, the flood water had risen above the danger mark beneath 11 rail bridges while tracks were submerged at three locations. Even track embankments were washed away at three places with earth slips reported from seven locations on various sections.

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"The tracks were damaged on the Palakkad division of the Southern Railway as water level rose to dangerous level near 10 rail bridges and track got submerged at one location. In Madurai Division, earth slip and falling of boulders was reported from six locations, he said. A senior Ministry official said that the Railways will ferry relief material from across the country to Kerala free of cost till August 31.