Konkan Railway gears up for monsoon, safety checks in place

Margao: With the monsoons expected in a few weeks, the Konkan Railway has completed all its planned pre-monsoon safety works on its route from Kolad (after Roha station of Central Railway) to Thokur (before Mangalore station).
“Special attention has been laid on catch water drain cleaning and inspection of cuttings. As a result of the large scale geo-safety works done along the railway line in the last ten years, incidents of boulder falls and soil slips have significantly reduced, thus ensuring safe running of trains.There has been no major disruption to train services due to boulder falls during monsoons in last four years,” Siddheshwar Telugu, general manager (admin) and CPRO, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) said in a press release.
Konkan Railway will conduct monsoon patrolling as per the provisions of Indian Railway Permanent Way manual to ensure safety along the tracks. About 950 personnel will be patrolling the Konkan Railway route from Kolad to Thokur during the monsoons. Vulnerable locations will be patrolled round the clock and stationary watchmen will be deployed for 24 hours at critical locations.
While speed restrictions will be imposed at vulnerable locations, BRN mounted excavators have been kept ready at all nominated points for quick movement in case of any emergency, according to the press note.
“Instructions have also been issued to the loco drivers to run at a reduced speed of 40 kmph in case of heavy rainfall when visibility is reduced. Nominated trains passing by KR route between Kolad and Thokur during night time will be footplated by officers/supervisors during the monsoon, who will study and make learned observations regarding technical aspects of the running loco engine. Self-propelled ARMVs (accident relief medical van), with provisions for an operation theatre and providing emergency medical aid are kept ready all the time at Ratnagiri and Verna along with ART (accident relief train),” said Telugu.
Mobile phones have been provided to loco pilots, station masters and other field officials including executives of various departments. Both loco pilots and guards of trains have been provided with walkie-talkie sets as well as every station on Konkan Railway is equipped with 25 Watt VHF (very high frequency) base station. This enables wireless communication between the train crew as well as with station master.
Three control rooms at Belapur, Ratnagiri and Margao will work round the clock during monsoons.