Thiruvananthapuram: Commissioner of Railway Safety Pranab Kumar Sen will inspect, test and measure the electrification works on the 110-km Kayamkulam-Thiruvananthapuram stretch on December 14 and 15.

Mr. Sen will inspect the Kayamkulam-Kollam stretch on December 14 followed by the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram stretch on December 15, a top official said.

The authorities are hoping that Mr. Sen will give the nod for commencing services on the stretch with electric traction the next day itself.

Already, the Commissioner of Railway Safety had given the authorisation to commence train services with electric traction on the Ernakulam-Alappuzha- Kayamkulam section and the Ernakulam-Kottayam stretch. As a prelude to the inspection, the Railway Electrification Wing carried out a "test run" of an electric locomotive on the stretch on Tuesday. Chief Project Manager, Railway Electrification, John Thomas and other officials of the Railway Electrification Wing travelled in the locomotive.

Lalu's availability

With this, the decks have been cleared for the commissioning of the electrified Thiruvananthapuram- Ernakulam railway section. "We are waiting for the date of Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad for commissioning the electrification project," the official said.

However, the work on the sub-stations at Perinad and Chingavanam had not been completed. The sub-station at Kazhakuttom had been completed. "The two sub-stations will be completed only in May 2007 and we do not want to drag the commissioning any further," he added.

The decision to commission the stretch was taken after General Manager of Southern Railway Thomas Varghese held consultations with the General Manager of Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE).

The Railways has already speeded up some mail and express trains in the new timetable taking into account commissioning of the electrification of the stretch.

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