Southern Railway has decided to close 11 railway level crossings along the Ernakulam-Alappuzha-Kayamkulam coastal route in Kerala. The affected crossings are at Kothakulangara near Cherthala, Ponnamveli Junction, near Uzhuva Puthiyakavu Junction, near CMS Junction, Providence Kavala Junction, near Anjilippalam in front of the Pooppallikavu temple, NH 66 bypass, near the Engineering College at Punnapra, near Evoor Sree Krishna Swamy temple, near Vazhapally Sree Bhadrakali temple, and near Puliyara Sree Krishnavilasam High School.
Background and Safety Reasons
The Ernakulam-Alappuzha-Kayamkulam coastal railway line is 102 km long and was constructed starting in 1979, with initial survey in 1975. The first phase from Ernakulam to Alappuzha was
commissioned in October 1989, followed by the second phase to Kayamkulam in 1992. When the coastal line was built, level crossings were installed to meet local connectivity demands, resulting in several crossings placed just 300 to 500 metres apart.
To enhance operational efficiency and prevent accidents on this busy corridor, Southern Railway has steadily reduced such closely spaced crossings. Over the past decade, around 10 underpasses have been constructed. The current closures focus on crossings less than one kilometre apart. The Railways also plan to provide road overbridges or underpasses at other high-traffic crossings.
Local Opposition to Closures
K C Venugopal, Member of Parliament,
has opposed the crossing closures in a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He described the Railways’ urgency in closing the crossings as unacceptable and called on the Alappuzha district collector to withhold no-objection certificates for the plan.
Venugopal raised concerns that these closures would disrupt the daily movement of local residents, making life difficult, especially in densely populated areas. He criticized the Railways’ proposal to create parallel roads connecting closed crossings to main roads, citing the lack of available land and infrastructure at various locations along the route.
Local residents and panchayat authorities in affected areas have also
protested against the closures, fearing significant hardship in daily travel.
Route History and Development
The Ernakulam-Alappuzha-Kayamkulam coastal railway line includes 18 stations, with major stops at Alappuzha, Cherthala, Haripad, and Ambalappuzha. Track doubling between Kayamkulam and Ambalappuzha has been completed, but MP Venugopal has highlighted delays in track doubling and other development work across the rest of the coastal route.
Impact on Local Travel
The closure of the 11 railway crossings is expected to alter local travel routes, potentially affecting residents who depend on these crossings for daily movement. The Railways intend to mitigate this by constructing overbridges or underpasses where traffic volume is high, but details on
alternative routes or timing remain unspecified.
Opponents of the closures point out that parallel road connectivity may not be feasible in all locations due to space constraints, which could compound travel difficulties for local communities.
