Trial run on Palani-Pollachi broad gauge line conducted

MADURAI: Trial run on the newly-converted Palani - Pollachi broad gauge line began on Thursday with the operation of a locomotive attached with a single coach. The first run from Palani to Pollachi which was an inspection run took 2.15 hours. In the return direction, it was completed in one hour without any stop as speed limits touched the maximum permissible speed of 75 kmph in certain sections.
Later in the afternoon, only the locomotive was operated from Palani to Pollachi and back without any stop testing speed reliability. The inspection and trial runs were conducted as part of testing the speed reliability and track stability in the section and also to study other track parameters as also the condition of bridges and stations in the section.
Based on these trial runs, a report will be sent to the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) by the Construction Organisation of Southern Railway, which in turn will inspect the section. After that the section will be opened for train traffic. A K Rastogi, Madurai divisional railway manager, Prafulla Verma, chief engineer, construction, Chennai, Sarangapani, deputy chief engineer, construction, Ravichandran, senior divisional safety officer, S T Ramalingam, senior divisional operations manager and other railway officers were present.