Title - More block stations to speed up trains

Five more intermediate block stations to be commissioned soon

With this, the number of such stations in the State will be nine
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Railways will commission five more intermediate block stations in the State this year to reduce congestion on busy stretches and speed up trains.Such stations split a block section between two railway stations by the provision of a remote-controlled additional signal. With them, a train need not be stopped from leaving the station at one end till another has passed the other end.The green signal can be given after the earlier train passes the intermediate signal. The effect, railway officials say, is the same as that obtained by providing additional manned stations, with more trains being passed on a line.At present, intermediate block stations function at Mullurkara, between Wadakkancherry and Vallathol Nagar; Koratti Angadi, between Karukutty and Divine Nagar; Thiruvananthapuram Pettah; and Kappil. The Pettah station was commissioned in March.

Kappil station

The Kappil station started functioning last week.Railway sources told The Hindu that the Irinjalakuda-Puthukkad, Angamaly-Aluva, Sasthamcotta-Perinad, Kadakavoor-Murukunpuzha, Perinad-Kollam stretches were among those proposed for starting intermediate block stations. The conventional method for enhancing capacity is by adding additional railway lines. Another option is by adding stations and shortening the inter-station distance to run more trains.As both these are expensive options for the cash-strapped Railways, intermediate block stations are started on busy stretches.With the commissioning of the system in Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram-bound trains do not have to wait long for signal to enter the central station. The highly saturated Thiruvananthapuram-Kochuveli section has been divided into Thiruvananthapuram-Pettah and Pettah-Kochuveli sections.Trains leaving the central station need not wait for an earlier train to reach Kochuveli. Once a train leaves Pettah, another can start from the central station.The passengers are hence benefited.In connection with the Mandala-Makaravilakku season in Sabarimala starting on Friday, Railways have launched a real-time train information system.With this, people can track train movement via the stations at Thiruvalla, Kottayam and Chengannur onhttp://events.train enquiry.com/sabarimala.