Konkan Railway
Encyclopedia
The Konkan Railway is a railway line which runs along the Konkan coast
of India
. It was constructed and is operated by the Konkan Railway Corporation
. It runs from Mangalore
in Karnataka
to Roha
in Maharashtra
through Goa
, along the west coast of India
and Western Ghats
.
and Mumbai
were not directly connected by the railway network. In mid of twentieth century people travelling to Mumbai from Mangalore and adjoining areas would go to Kadur
or Birur
by bus and then catch a train to Mumbai ( Bombay then ). In 1970's National Highway 17 (NH-17) was built to connect these cities by road. Direct bus services started between these two cities after the construction of NH-17. Even though economic reasons provided a strong need to connect these two cities, the region through which the railway track passed was geographically very tough and would be an engineering challenge. Due to the uneven terrain
of the region, railway lines were not laid for many years.
Although the brainchild of veteran parliamentarian from Ratnagiri
, Barrister Nath Pai M.P., national leaders such as Madhu Dandavate
and George Fernandes
, who hailed from the Konkan
played a major role in the conception of Konkan Railway. In 1966, a line was constructed between Diva in Mumbai
and Apta in Raigad district
. During the tenure of Madhu Dandavate, this was extended up to Roha
in 1986, mainly to serve the industries located in the area. However, the missing link from Roha to Mangalore still remained. In October 1984, the Ministry of Railways decided to take a final location engineering-cum-traffic survey for the west coastal portion from Mangalore to Madgaon
- a total distance of 325 km. In March 1985, the railways decided to extend the scope of their survey to include the omitted length of the west coast line extending from Madgaon to Roha. The Southern Railway was entrusted with this final location survey. They submitted the project report for this route to the Railway Ministry in 1988 and named it as the Konkan Railway after the coastline along which it runs.
The project gained impetus after George Fernandes became the Railway Minister in 1989. It was decided to constitute a separately incorporated railway company for the construction and operation of the line. Thus, on July 19, 1990, the Konkan Railway Corporation
Limited (KRCL) was incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act
, 1956, with its headquarters at CBD Belapur
in Navi Mumbai
and E. Sreedharan
, a senior railway official, as its first Chairman and Managing Director. The company set itself a challenging target of five years to complete the work - something that had never been achieved in India before for a project of this magnitude. The foundation stone for the project was laid at Roha on September 15, 1990, and the Corporation had its task cut out.
Drawing up their plans in an office, Mr. Sreedharan's team had yet to realise what kind of terrain they would have to battle, and though some surveys had been conducted, there was no data for the entire stretch in Maharashtra
- a route which involved half the length of the
line. Besides, the task was formidable. With a total number of over 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels to be built through this mountainous terrain containing many rivers, the project was the biggest and perhaps most difficult railway undertaking during this century, at least in this part of the world. A major challenge in the area was land acquisition. But though land related lawsuits are common in the Konkan
, when KRCL began persuading people to give up property that had belonged to their families for generations, many gave it up voluntarily, convinced of
the importance of the project. This enabled the entire process to be completed in just a year.
There were challenges posed by the terrain and the elements. Flash floods, landslide
s and tunnel collapses affected work at many places on the project. The region was also thickly forested, and construction sites were often plagued by wild animals. Despite these problems, work on the project continued, and an effective system of decentralisation enabled better efficiency. The entire stretch of 740 kilometres (459.8 mi) was divided into seven sectors - Mahad
, Ratnagiri
north, Ratnagiri
south, Kudal
, Panaji, Karwar
and Udupi - of approximately 100 km each, headed by a Chief Engineer.
Contracts for the project were awarded to some of the biggest and most reputed construction firms in India, including Larsen and Toubro, Gammon India
and AFCONS. To enable quicker construction, several innovative practices were adopted. Pier
s for major bridges were cast on the riverbanks itself and launched using cranes mounted on pontoon
s. The technique of incremental launching of bridge spans was used for the first time in India. Since it would take too long to complete the project using locally available tunnelling technology, nine hydraulic tunnelling machines
were imported from Sweden
in order to bore through the hard rock of the Sahayadris
. The biggest challenge, however, came from the nine tunnels that had to be bored through soft soil. No technology existed anywhere in the world for this purpose and the work had to be carried out through a painstakingly slow manual process. Excavation was almost impossible due to the clay
ey soil that was saturated with water owing to a high water table
in the region. Several times tunnels collapsed immediately after they had been dug, necessitating work to be redone. Nineteen lives and four years were lost while constructing the soft soil tunnels alone. In all, seventy-four people perished during the construction of the line.
, comprising 105 kilometres (65.2 mi) of the route, where serious concerns were raised about the environmental and economic impact of the line on the state. The opponents to the project stated that the proposed alignment
, passing through the coastal regions of the state, would cause destruction of ecology, damage to historical sites and distrupt the lifestyles of people in the densely populated coastal region of the state. In 1991, they came together under and umbrella organisation called the Konkan Railway Re-Alignment Committee (KRRAC) and organised protests against the proposed alignment of the railway line.
The main points raised by the KRRAC were that the existing alignment would cause flooding in coastal regions, destroy the fertile khazan lands, harm the monuments of Old Goa
, cause irreparable damage to the marshes and mangrove
swamps along the coastline and estuaries of the Mandovi and Zuari rivers, and result in the large-scale displacement of neighbourhoods along the coastal belt through which it passed. The KRRAC proposed an alternative alignment for the line, known as the hinterland alignment, to offset these problems. The hinterland alignment, passing through the relatively unpopulated hinterland
of the state, was to be longer by about 25 kilometres (15.5 mi), but according to the KRRAC, would significantly minimise the damage caused to the environment.
The hinterland alignment was rejected by the Konkan Railway Corporation
on the grounds that it would involve substantial diversion of the line, deny rail access to the major towns of the state, and result in severe delays and escalation of costs of construction. By then, the KRRAC had grown into a political movement, backed by the powerful Church and certain political parties. In March 1992, it filed a public interest litigation
in the Bombay High Court
, seeking an injunction
on the construction work and a diversion of the line through the hinterland alignment. In the plaint, it raised all the issues that had been brought up earlier. The High Court dismissed the plaint in April 1992, observing that
and Udupi in Karnataka
was inaugurated, followed by the northernmost section of 47 kilometres (29.2 mi) between Roha
and Veer in Maharashtra
in June 1993. The first passenger train on Konkanrailway route was run between Mangalore and Udupi on 20 March 1993. The service was extended by 51 kilometres (31.7 mi) from Veer to Khed in March 1995, and by a further 265 kilometres (164.7 mi) from Khed to Sawantwadi Road in December 1996. Services on the southern end were extended by 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) from Udupi to Kundapura
in January 1995, and by a further 275 kilometres (170.9 mi) till Pernem in Goa
in August 1997. However, through services between Mumbai and Mangalore continued to remain on hold due to a problematic tunnel at Pernem, which was facing repeated cave-ins and flooding. The tunnel was finally completed in January 1998, six years after its construction had commenced. Through services on the line commenced after a formal inauguration of the entire stretch of 740 kilometres (459.8 mi) from Roha
to Thokur
on January 26, 1998. Trains carrying passengers started running along the full route between Mumbai and Mangalore from May 1998. In October 1997, Mr. Sreedharan was asked to take up the responsibility of construction of the Delhi Metro
Project.
KR does not have divisions like the other Indian Railways; however, it has two regions with headquarters at Ratnagiri
in Maharashtra
and Karwar
in Karnataka
. The Ratnagiri region extends over 380 kilometres (236.1 mi) from Roha
to Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, while the Karwar region extends over 360 kilometres (223.7 mi) from Pernem
in Goa
to Thokur
in Karnataka.
The route is a single-line track, and is not electrified. The total length of the line is about 738 kilometres (458.6 mi). Although it has been designed for high-speed traffic of 160 kilometres per hour (99.4 mph), the fastest train on the route, the Trivandrum Rajdhani Express
, at present runs at a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour (80.8 mph). The route is open to both freight and passenger traffic. The line, which runs parallel to the Arabian Sea
coastline, offers some of the most spectacular views of any Indian rail journey.The Konkan railway route intersects national highway NH-17 at many places.
There are fifty-six stations on the entire line. Although the route is currently a single line, KR and South Western Railway
lines run parallel from Majorda to Madgaon in Goa, making that section a double line.
Netravati Express
later extended to Trivandrum , which was diverted via the Konkan Railway from March 1, 1998, followed by the Rajdhani Express
to Trivandrum from April 1, 1998. The Matsyaganda Express
running from Lok Manya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai to Mangalore was flagged off on May 1, 1998. The Hazrat Nizamuddin
- Mangalore
Mangala Lakshwadeep Express was diverted on the route from August 1, 1998 and extended to Ernakulam Junction
. The Pune
-Ernakulam Junction
Express was introduced on February 25, 1999. A new train called Marusagar Express
runs between Jaipur
and Ernakulam Junction
(Now extended till Ajmer
) via the Konkan Railway began it's service on October 12, 2001. The Jan Shatabdi Express was flagged off between Mumbai
and Madgaon
(largest running Jan Shadabdi)on April 16, 2002, to commemorate 150 years of the existence of Indian Railways
. On February 1, 2008, a Garib Rath
between Kochuveli satellite station
of Thiruvananthapuram and LokmanyaTilak in Mumbai was flagged off.
Other trains like Trivandrum Central
- Veraval
, Gandhidham
- Trivandrum- Nagercoil
, Bikaner- Kochuveli
, New Delhi
- Kochuveli
, Mangalore
-Verna
Passenger, Konkan Kanya Express and Mandovi Express from Goa to Mumbai
, Kerala Sampark Kranti Express from Chandigarh
to Kochuveli
, Amritsar
- Kochuveli
Superfast Express, Happa-Tirunelveli Superfast Express and Dehradun
-Kochuveli also pass through Konkan.
Now new train between Sawantwadi To Dadar is available named as Rajya Rani Express
Express.
In the Railway Budget presentation on 25th Feb 2011, Railway Minister Kum.Mamta Banerjee has declared two new trains, Porbander- Kochuveli
and Bhavnagar
- Kochuveli
via konkan and also declared the extension of Yeshvantpur- Mangalore
Tri weekly Express to Karwar
At present, 86 passenger services operate each week in either direction.
was banking on freight traffic to bail it out. In an effort to attract freight traffic, the corporation began creating awareness among local industries on the route. In 1999, the corporation introduced the Roll-on/roll-off (RORO) service, a unique road-rail synergy system
, on the section between Kolad
in Maharashtra and Verna in Goa, which was extended up to Surathkal
in Karnataka in 2004. The RORO service, the first of its kind in India, allowed trucks to be transported on flatcars. It was highly popular, carrying about 1.6 lakh trucks and bringing in over Rs.120 crore worth of earnings to the corporation till 2009.
region resulted in problems continuing to dog the line even after its inauguration. The first problems surfaced during the monsoon
of 1998, when torrential rainfall caused landslide
s at many places, washed away tracks and disrupted services. Despite the corporation's efforts at addressing the problems through engineering measures such as protective netting along cutting
s to prevent boulders from rolling onto the tracks, the problems continued to recur each year.
The first major accident
on the line occurred on the night of June 22, 2003, when a landslide caused an express train travelling from Karwar
to Mumbai to derail at the entrance to a tunnel. Fifty-one people died as a result of the accident, and several others were injured. As a result of the accident, the corporation came under heavy criticism for failing to adhere to adequate safety measures in the landslide-prone region. An inquiry revealed the cause of the accident to be a failure of a cutting due to absence of monsoon patrolling. The findings were disputed by the corporation, which insisted that the lack of monsoon patrolling did not lead to the accident which was entirely a result of the forces of nature. Shortly after the accident, the corporation announced that it would enhance safety measures on the route.
Barely a year later, these measures were found to be inadequate when a second major accident
occurred on the line on June 16, 2004. The Matsyaganda Express
bound to Mumbai from Mangalore derailed and fell off a bridge after colliding with boulders on the tracks, killing 14 people. Again, the corporation insisted that the mishap was a result of nature's fury. After the accident, questions were raised about the safety and credibility of the Konkan Railway, prompting the resignation of its director Rajaram Bojji on August 31, 2004. An enquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety revealed the cause of the accident to be due to "falling of boulders and earth" on the tracks. After the report, the corporation swung into action, implementing all its recommendations, including limiting the speed of trains during the monsoon to 75 km/h (46.6 mph) as opposed to the regular speed limit of 120 km/h (74.6 mph), as well as undertaking several geo-technical engineering works, including boulder netting, shotcreting
, rock bolt
ing, micropiling and vetiver
plantations along the line to increase safety.
Konkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It was constructed and is operated by the Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. The company started its full operations of trains on 26 January 1998...
. It runs from Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
to Roha
Roha
Roha is a small town in Maharashtra state of India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai. Many chemical industries have opened up their manufacturing bases here. Roha is located between the banks of the Kundalika River and the hills of Kalasgiri...
in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
through Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, along the west coast of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
.
Background
Until the Konkan Railway started its operations, the two important port cities MangaloreMangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
were not directly connected by the railway network. In mid of twentieth century people travelling to Mumbai from Mangalore and adjoining areas would go to Kadur
Kadur
Kadur is a taluk in Chikmagalur district, in the Indian state of Karnataka. It was formerly, a district in the Mysore state, with an area of 2813sq. m. Pop. , 362,752, showing an increase of 9% in the decade.-Geography:Kadur is located at...
or Birur
Birur
Birur is a town located in Kadur Taluk in Chikkamagaluru district in the state of Karnataka, India.- Geography :Birur is located at . It has an average elevation of 833 metres . It is called as Gateway to Malnad region.- Transport :...
by bus and then catch a train to Mumbai ( Bombay then ). In 1970's National Highway 17 (NH-17) was built to connect these cities by road. Direct bus services started between these two cities after the construction of NH-17. Even though economic reasons provided a strong need to connect these two cities, the region through which the railway track passed was geographically very tough and would be an engineering challenge. Due to the uneven terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
of the region, railway lines were not laid for many years.
Although the brainchild of veteran parliamentarian from Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
, Barrister Nath Pai M.P., national leaders such as Madhu Dandavate
Madhu Dandavate
Madhu Dandavate was an Indian politician.He was born in a Deshastha family. He was popularly known as an Economist....
and George Fernandes
George Fernandes
George Mathew Fernandes is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal , and was the founder of the Samata Party...
, who hailed from the Konkan
Konkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
played a major role in the conception of Konkan Railway. In 1966, a line was constructed between Diva in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Apta in Raigad district
Raigad district
Raigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort which was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, and is located in the interior regions of the district,...
. During the tenure of Madhu Dandavate, this was extended up to Roha
Roha
Roha is a small town in Maharashtra state of India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai. Many chemical industries have opened up their manufacturing bases here. Roha is located between the banks of the Kundalika River and the hills of Kalasgiri...
in 1986, mainly to serve the industries located in the area. However, the missing link from Roha to Mangalore still remained. In October 1984, the Ministry of Railways decided to take a final location engineering-cum-traffic survey for the west coastal portion from Mangalore to Madgaon
Margao
Margao and commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is the administrative headquarters of South Goa district and of the Salcete taluka.- Etymology :...
- a total distance of 325 km. In March 1985, the railways decided to extend the scope of their survey to include the omitted length of the west coast line extending from Madgaon to Roha. The Southern Railway was entrusted with this final location survey. They submitted the project report for this route to the Railway Ministry in 1988 and named it as the Konkan Railway after the coastline along which it runs.
The project gained impetus after George Fernandes became the Railway Minister in 1989. It was decided to constitute a separately incorporated railway company for the construction and operation of the line. Thus, on July 19, 1990, the Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. The company started its full operations of trains on 26 January 1998...
Limited (KRCL) was incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act
Companies Act
Companies Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and South Africa relating to company law....
, 1956, with its headquarters at CBD Belapur
CBD Belapur
CBD Belapur is the third most developed node of Navi Mumbai after Vashi and Nerul. CBD Belapur has a fairly vibrant Central Business District that is moving some of the economy out of congested central Mumbai into the hinterland. Belapur is also one of the largest assembly constituencies from this...
in Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai is a Planned Satellite City on the west coast of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was developed in 1972 as a twin city of Mumbai, and is the largest planned city on the planet, with under the jurisdiction of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and a total area of . Navi Mumbai...
and E. Sreedharan
E. Sreedharan
Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is the managing director of Delhi Metro.-Early life:E. Sreedharan was born in a family of Palakkad district, Kerala. His family hails from Karukaputhoor in Palakkad district of Kerala...
, a senior railway official, as its first Chairman and Managing Director. The company set itself a challenging target of five years to complete the work - something that had never been achieved in India before for a project of this magnitude. The foundation stone for the project was laid at Roha on September 15, 1990, and the Corporation had its task cut out.
Challenges
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
- a route which involved half the length of the
line. Besides, the task was formidable. With a total number of over 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels to be built through this mountainous terrain containing many rivers, the project was the biggest and perhaps most difficult railway undertaking during this century, at least in this part of the world. A major challenge in the area was land acquisition. But though land related lawsuits are common in the Konkan
Konkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
, when KRCL began persuading people to give up property that had belonged to their families for generations, many gave it up voluntarily, convinced of
the importance of the project. This enabled the entire process to be completed in just a year.
There were challenges posed by the terrain and the elements. Flash floods, landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s and tunnel collapses affected work at many places on the project. The region was also thickly forested, and construction sites were often plagued by wild animals. Despite these problems, work on the project continued, and an effective system of decentralisation enabled better efficiency. The entire stretch of 740 kilometres (459.8 mi) was divided into seven sectors - Mahad
Mahad
Mahad is a city and a municipal council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated about 175 km to the south of Mumbai . It has become the center of attraction because of its beautiful surroundings and pleasant climate. Mahad has a personality of its own due to its...
, Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
north, Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
south, Kudal
Kudal
Kudal is a census town in Sindhudurg district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:Kudal is located at . It has an average elevation of 20 metres .-Demographics:...
, Panaji, Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
and Udupi - of approximately 100 km each, headed by a Chief Engineer.
Contracts for the project were awarded to some of the biggest and most reputed construction firms in India, including Larsen and Toubro, Gammon India
Gammon India
Gammon India Limited is the largest civil engineering construction company in India. Headquartered in Mumbai, it was founded in 1922 by John C...
and AFCONS. To enable quicker construction, several innovative practices were adopted. Pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
s for major bridges were cast on the riverbanks itself and launched using cranes mounted on pontoon
Pontoon
Pontoon may refer to:* Float , an air-filled structure providing buoyancy* Pontoon , the Australian/Malaysian casino game* Pontoon , a chiefly British version of the card game blackjack...
s. The technique of incremental launching of bridge spans was used for the first time in India. Since it would take too long to complete the project using locally available tunnelling technology, nine hydraulic tunnelling machines
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
were imported from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in order to bore through the hard rock of the Sahayadris
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
. The biggest challenge, however, came from the nine tunnels that had to be bored through soft soil. No technology existed anywhere in the world for this purpose and the work had to be carried out through a painstakingly slow manual process. Excavation was almost impossible due to the clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
ey soil that was saturated with water owing to a high water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
in the region. Several times tunnels collapsed immediately after they had been dug, necessitating work to be redone. Nineteen lives and four years were lost while constructing the soft soil tunnels alone. In all, seventy-four people perished during the construction of the line.
Controversy
Like most other major projects in India, the Konkan Railway was not without its share of controversies. The biggest one arose in the state of GoaGoa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, comprising 105 kilometres (65.2 mi) of the route, where serious concerns were raised about the environmental and economic impact of the line on the state. The opponents to the project stated that the proposed alignment
Alignment
Alignment may refer to:* Alignment , secondary evidence used to associate features such as postholes* Alignment , in Israel from 1965 to 1992...
, passing through the coastal regions of the state, would cause destruction of ecology, damage to historical sites and distrupt the lifestyles of people in the densely populated coastal region of the state. In 1991, they came together under and umbrella organisation called the Konkan Railway Re-Alignment Committee (KRRAC) and organised protests against the proposed alignment of the railway line.
The main points raised by the KRRAC were that the existing alignment would cause flooding in coastal regions, destroy the fertile khazan lands, harm the monuments of Old Goa
Old Goa
Old Goa or Velha Goa is a historical city in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. The city was constructed by the Bijapur Sultanate in the 15th century, and served as capital of Portuguese India from the 16th century until its abandonment in the 18th century due to plague...
, cause irreparable damage to the marshes and mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swamps along the coastline and estuaries of the Mandovi and Zuari rivers, and result in the large-scale displacement of neighbourhoods along the coastal belt through which it passed. The KRRAC proposed an alternative alignment for the line, known as the hinterland alignment, to offset these problems. The hinterland alignment, passing through the relatively unpopulated hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
of the state, was to be longer by about 25 kilometres (15.5 mi), but according to the KRRAC, would significantly minimise the damage caused to the environment.
The hinterland alignment was rejected by the Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. The company started its full operations of trains on 26 January 1998...
on the grounds that it would involve substantial diversion of the line, deny rail access to the major towns of the state, and result in severe delays and escalation of costs of construction. By then, the KRRAC had grown into a political movement, backed by the powerful Church and certain political parties. In March 1992, it filed a public interest litigation
Public interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
in the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, seeking an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
on the construction work and a diversion of the line through the hinterland alignment. In the plaint, it raised all the issues that had been brought up earlier. The High Court dismissed the plaint in April 1992, observing that
Completion
Amid all the controversies and problems dogging the project, work continued to progress. In March 1993, the southernmost section of 47 kilometres (29.2 mi) between ThokurThokur
Thokur is the name of two villages in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state in India.- Thokur near Haleyangandi :...
and Udupi in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
was inaugurated, followed by the northernmost section of 47 kilometres (29.2 mi) between Roha
Roha
Roha is a small town in Maharashtra state of India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai. Many chemical industries have opened up their manufacturing bases here. Roha is located between the banks of the Kundalika River and the hills of Kalasgiri...
and Veer in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
in June 1993. The first passenger train on Konkanrailway route was run between Mangalore and Udupi on 20 March 1993. The service was extended by 51 kilometres (31.7 mi) from Veer to Khed in March 1995, and by a further 265 kilometres (164.7 mi) from Khed to Sawantwadi Road in December 1996. Services on the southern end were extended by 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) from Udupi to Kundapura
Kundapura
-Languages and culture :The town mainly consists of Kannadigas who speak Kundagannada, Konkanis and Tuluvas. The Goud Saraswat Brahmins who fled Goa during the Portuguese arrival in the 16th century arrived by Boat in Basrur and some settled in Kundapura and surrounding villages. These people and...
in January 1995, and by a further 275 kilometres (170.9 mi) till Pernem in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
in August 1997. However, through services between Mumbai and Mangalore continued to remain on hold due to a problematic tunnel at Pernem, which was facing repeated cave-ins and flooding. The tunnel was finally completed in January 1998, six years after its construction had commenced. Through services on the line commenced after a formal inauguration of the entire stretch of 740 kilometres (459.8 mi) from Roha
Roha
Roha is a small town in Maharashtra state of India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai. Many chemical industries have opened up their manufacturing bases here. Roha is located between the banks of the Kundalika River and the hills of Kalasgiri...
to Thokur
Thokur
Thokur is the name of two villages in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state in India.- Thokur near Haleyangandi :...
on January 26, 1998. Trains carrying passengers started running along the full route between Mumbai and Mangalore from May 1998. In October 1997, Mr. Sreedharan was asked to take up the responsibility of construction of the Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. It is one of the largest metro networks in the world. The network consists of six lines with a total length of with 142 stations of which 35 are underground...
Project.
Organisation
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
and Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. The Ratnagiri region extends over 380 kilometres (236.1 mi) from Roha
Roha
Roha is a small town in Maharashtra state of India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai. Many chemical industries have opened up their manufacturing bases here. Roha is located between the banks of the Kundalika River and the hills of Kalasgiri...
to Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, while the Karwar region extends over 360 kilometres (223.7 mi) from Pernem
Pernem
Pernem is a northmost administrative region or Taluka in North Goa. It is also the name of the town of Pernem, which is its headquarters. It has a Municipal Council...
in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
to Thokur
Thokur
Thokur is the name of two villages in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state in India.- Thokur near Haleyangandi :...
in Karnataka.
Route
Rajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :...
, at present runs at a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour (80.8 mph). The route is open to both freight and passenger traffic. The line, which runs parallel to the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
coastline, offers some of the most spectacular views of any Indian rail journey.The Konkan railway route intersects national highway NH-17 at many places.
There are fifty-six stations on the entire line. Although the route is currently a single line, KR and South Western Railway
South Western Railway
The South Western Railway is one of the 16 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Hubli and comprises Bangalore, Mysore divisions of the erstwhile Southern Railway and the reorganized Hubli division of the erstwhile South Central Railway which includes Hospet and Bellary. The division...
lines run parallel from Majorda to Madgaon in Goa, making that section a double line.
Passenger
The route became quite popular with passengers from the day it was opened, due to the connectivity it provided to regions hitherto inaccessible by rail, as well as the substantial savings in time for commuters between western and southern India. Several trains, which earlier took circuitous routes were diverted via the Konkan Railway, leading to a reduction in running time. The first of these was the Mumbai-MangaloreMangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
Netravati Express
Netravati Express
The Netravati ExpressMalayalam:നേത്രാവതി എക്സ്പ്രസ്സ് Kannada:ನೇತ್ರಾವತಿ ಎಕ್ಸಪ್ರೆಸ್ಸ is an express train running between Trivandrum and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla in Bombay . The train runs through Konkan railway. Before the advent of Konkan Railway in 1998, the train ran from Mumbai to...
later extended to Trivandrum , which was diverted via the Konkan Railway from March 1, 1998, followed by the Rajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express
Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :...
to Trivandrum from April 1, 1998. The Matsyaganda Express
Matsyaganda Express
The Matsyagandha Express is a daily superfast train running between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Mangalore Central Terminus...
running from Lok Manya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai to Mangalore was flagged off on May 1, 1998. The Hazrat Nizamuddin
Nizamuddin Railway Station
Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station is one of the three main railway stations of Delhi, India. Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station connects all the major cities and is being developed to ease congestion on New Delhi Railway Station. Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station is served by Northern Railway....
- Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
Mangala Lakshwadeep Express was diverted on the route from August 1, 1998 and extended to Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction is the largest railway station in the city of Kochi. The station has six platforms and two terminals...
. The Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
-Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction is the largest railway station in the city of Kochi. The station has six platforms and two terminals...
Express was introduced on February 25, 1999. A new train called Marusagar Express
Marusagar Express
The Marusagar Express is a weekly express train that runs between Ajmer and Ernakulam, connecting Rajasthan to Kerala. The train runs through four zones of Indian Railways—Western Railway, Central Railway, Konkan Railway and Southern Railway traveling 2859 km in around 47 hours. There are 29...
runs between Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
and Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction
Ernakulam Junction is the largest railway station in the city of Kochi. The station has six platforms and two terminals...
(Now extended till Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
) via the Konkan Railway began it's service on October 12, 2001. The Jan Shatabdi Express was flagged off between Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Madgaon
Margao
Margao and commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is the administrative headquarters of South Goa district and of the Salcete taluka.- Etymology :...
(largest running Jan Shadabdi)on April 16, 2002, to commemorate 150 years of the existence of Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
. On February 1, 2008, a Garib Rath
Garib Rath
The Garib Rath express train is one of the premier trains introduced by the Indian Railways in 2005 by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to provide fully air-conditioned travel to those passengers who could not afford the expensive tickets of the fully air-conditioned coaches as in Rajdhani...
between Kochuveli satellite station
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
of Thiruvananthapuram and LokmanyaTilak in Mumbai was flagged off.
Other trains like Trivandrum Central
Trivandrum Central
Trivandrum Central is the main railway station in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest and busiest railway station in Kerala in terms of passenger movement and the second most important rail hub in South India. It is also the most profitable station...
- Veraval
Veraval
Veraval is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is located 6 km from Somnath.- History :...
, Gandhidham
Gandhidham
Gandhidham is a city and a municipality in the Kachchh District of Gujarat state of India. The town was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of the refugees from Sindh of Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India....
- Trivandrum- Nagercoil
Nagercoil
Nagercoil is the 12th largest city in the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District...
, Bikaner- Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
- Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
, Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
-Verna
Verna
Verna is a village in South Goa district in the state of Goa, India north to the city of Margao.- Temples :...
Passenger, Konkan Kanya Express and Mandovi Express from Goa to Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Kerala Sampark Kranti Express from Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
to Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
, Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
- Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
Superfast Express, Happa-Tirunelveli Superfast Express and Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
-Kochuveli also pass through Konkan.
Now new train between Sawantwadi To Dadar is available named as Rajya Rani Express
Rajya Rani Express
Rajya Rani trains are a series of express trains operated by Indian Railways to connect state capitals with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business.-History:...
Express.
In the Railway Budget presentation on 25th Feb 2011, Railway Minister Kum.Mamta Banerjee has declared two new trains, Porbander- Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
and Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar
-Topography:Bhavnagar is a coastal city in the eastern coast of Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, located at . It has an average elevation of 24 metres . It occupies area of 53.30 km². General slope dips in the northeasterly direction at the apex of Gulf of Khambhat...
- Kochuveli
Kochuveli Railway Station
Kochuveli Railway Station Malayalam:കൊച്ചുവേളി is one of the main stations of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is being developed to ease congestion on Thiruvananthapuram central station....
via konkan and also declared the extension of Yeshvantpur- Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
Tri weekly Express to Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
At present, 86 passenger services operate each week in either direction.
Freight
Freight response to the Konkan Railway was lukewarm, prompting the worried corporation to consider cutting rates. With an outstanding debt of Rs. 3,375 crore, KRCLKonkan Railway Corporation
Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. The company started its full operations of trains on 26 January 1998...
was banking on freight traffic to bail it out. In an effort to attract freight traffic, the corporation began creating awareness among local industries on the route. In 1999, the corporation introduced the Roll-on/roll-off (RORO) service, a unique road-rail synergy system
Rolling Highway
A rolling highway is a combined transport system to transport trucks by rail....
, on the section between Kolad
Kolad
Kolad is a village, in Raigad district, Maharashtra State, India.Kolad, a thriving tiny village in the Mahad region in the state of Maharashtra, is blessed with natural foliage and luxuriant greenery...
in Maharashtra and Verna in Goa, which was extended up to Surathkal
Surathkal
Surathkal is a locality under Mangalore City Corporation located in the Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka state, India...
in Karnataka in 2004. The RORO service, the first of its kind in India, allowed trucks to be transported on flatcars. It was highly popular, carrying about 1.6 lakh trucks and bringing in over Rs.120 crore worth of earnings to the corporation till 2009.
Difficulties
The hostile terrain and difficult weather conditions of the KonkanKonkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
region resulted in problems continuing to dog the line even after its inauguration. The first problems surfaced during the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
of 1998, when torrential rainfall caused landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s at many places, washed away tracks and disrupted services. Despite the corporation's efforts at addressing the problems through engineering measures such as protective netting along cutting
Cutting
Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel...
s to prevent boulders from rolling onto the tracks, the problems continued to recur each year.
The first major accident
Vaibhavwadi train crash
The Vaibhavwadi train crash was a fatal train derailment near the village of Vaibhavwadi in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra in India on 23 June 2003.- Overview :...
on the line occurred on the night of June 22, 2003, when a landslide caused an express train travelling from Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
to Mumbai to derail at the entrance to a tunnel. Fifty-one people died as a result of the accident, and several others were injured. As a result of the accident, the corporation came under heavy criticism for failing to adhere to adequate safety measures in the landslide-prone region. An inquiry revealed the cause of the accident to be a failure of a cutting due to absence of monsoon patrolling. The findings were disputed by the corporation, which insisted that the lack of monsoon patrolling did not lead to the accident which was entirely a result of the forces of nature. Shortly after the accident, the corporation announced that it would enhance safety measures on the route.
Barely a year later, these measures were found to be inadequate when a second major accident
Karanjadi train crash
The Karanjadi train crash was the accidental derailment of a passenger train at Karanjadi, a village in Maharashtra, India, on June 17, 2004. 20 people were killed and well over 100 injured in the crash, which was the result of heavy monsoon rains.- Overview :...
occurred on the line on June 16, 2004. The Matsyaganda Express
Matsyaganda Express
The Matsyagandha Express is a daily superfast train running between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Mangalore Central Terminus...
bound to Mumbai from Mangalore derailed and fell off a bridge after colliding with boulders on the tracks, killing 14 people. Again, the corporation insisted that the mishap was a result of nature's fury. After the accident, questions were raised about the safety and credibility of the Konkan Railway, prompting the resignation of its director Rajaram Bojji on August 31, 2004. An enquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety revealed the cause of the accident to be due to "falling of boulders and earth" on the tracks. After the report, the corporation swung into action, implementing all its recommendations, including limiting the speed of trains during the monsoon to 75 km/h (46.6 mph) as opposed to the regular speed limit of 120 km/h (74.6 mph), as well as undertaking several geo-technical engineering works, including boulder netting, shotcreting
Shotcrete
Shotcrete is concrete conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface, as a construction technique....
, rock bolt
Rock bolt
A rock bolt is a long anchor bolt, for stabilizing rock excavations, which may be tunnels or rock cuts. It transfers load from the unstable exterior, to the confined interior of the rock mass....
ing, micropiling and vetiver
Vetiver
Chrysopogon zizanioides, commonly known as vetiver , is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to India. In western and northern India, it is popularly known as khus. Vetiver can grow up to 1.5 metres high and form clumps as wide. The stems are tall and the leaves are long, thin, and...
plantations along the line to increase safety.
External links
- Official Website of Konkan Railway
- Konkan Railway Photos from Himanshu Sarpotdar
- Konkan Railway - The Net Resource Centre - A Historical and Archive Store for the Rail Enthusiast
- Indian Railway website