Konkan Railway is a railway
line that runs along the west coast of India, parallel to the Arabian Sea and
the Western Ghats. This rail route is constructed and operated by Konkan Railway Corporation. The railway line
extends from Roha in Maharashtra till Thokur in Karnataka thereby
covering a length of 741 km. During its entire course it passes through several
rivers, mountains and the Arabian Sea thereby making the construction of
railway track almost impossible. Once the line was completed it offered some of
the spectacular natural scenery during its journey. As the railway line
is sandwiched between the Arabian Sea on one side and the Western Ghats on
another,2000 bridges and 92 tunnels were required to complete this railway track.
According to sources the amount of input required to construct this line was
one of the most difficult tasks undertaken to be completed in 20th century.
Reason for Konkan Railway: India has of the greatest and 4th largest rail network in world and
almost every part of India was connected via rail network excluding some parts
of eastern India. Britishers also kept their hands off to this as they also
knew that developing railway line in this part of India is a tough job and
requires lot of manpower and money and in case they succeed they will have to
fight with nature. To construct a rail line becomes difficult in rainy season
as this part of India receives some of the highest rainfall in the country.
Since one side was the Arabian Sea and on the other side the Great Western
Ghats therefore tunneling was difficult. Not only rocks but also the highlands
were made of soft and clayey soil. The problem was further aggravated by land
acquisition as it needed the organization to negotiate with forty two thousand
land owners. All these troubles made successive rail ministers to keep
their hands off, but it severely affected the trade and transportation. The
local merchants had to follow a much longer route thereby increasing the cost
of transportation. Finally Indian Government approved the construction of
railway line and on September 15,
1990 foundation
stone at Roha was laid.
Construction of Railway: Dr. E. Sreedharan was made director to construct
this line and he was given full power to recruit and work. Entire length was
divided into 7 parts headed by one chief engineer and they were asked to
provide best path to pass railways. Satellite images were taken and long
surveys were done by enthusiastic engineers to finalize the route. Next was
land acquisition and the team contacted local panchayats and leaders.
Compensation amount was offered depending upon the type of soil and trees and
it was promised that they will get job in railways on its completion. For
construction companies like L&T and AFCONS were given contracts and large Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM)
were imported from Sweden. 30 thousand workers were employed and a time
limit of 5 year was set. Though the project took 7 years to complete and cost
93 workers their life, but once the line was complete it was an immediate hit.
It reduced the time of travel between major cities like Mumbai to Goa and
Cochin by 10 and 12 hours respectively.
A walk through Railway Line: Entire Konkan Railway line passes
through 3 three Indian states i.e. Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. There are 56
railway stations and entire line is single track with no electrification. Track
is designed for a maximum speed of 160 km/hr. The route provides some of the
best natural views and scenic beauty. As Arabian Sea is on one side and lush
green Sahyadri Mountains on other, nearly 2000 big and
small bridges and 92 tunnels were constructed. At the time of completion all
the longest tunnel of India were present on this line and the Karbude Tunnel (6.5 km) was the longest one. Panvell Viaduct (210 ft.) constructed on this line
was third tallest viaduct in Asia when the line was completed. The entire
length can be divided into three parts on the basis of state it crosses. They
are:
§ Length in Maharashtra
§ Length in Goa
§ Length in Karnataka
Length in Maharashtra: Major part of Konkan Railway lies in
the state of Maharashtra and it shares 375km of railway line. Starting from
Roha, the last station that lies in Maharashtra is Madure. Important stations
in Maharashtra are Roha, Chiplun and Ratnagiri.
Length in Goa: Goa has fairly small share as compared to
other two states. Major challenges were faced while carrying out the
construction work in Goa. Many bridges were constructed to pass railway
line through the rivers flowing in Goa. The bridge on Zuari River in Goa, is
1319 m long. In Goa total length of railway line is 110 km starting from Pernem
Railway station to Asnoti, Madgaon being the main railway station.
Length in Karnataka: In Karnataka last station of Konkan
Railways is Thokur though the line leads to Manglore railway station which is
managed by Southern Railways. In Karnataka total length of railway line is 245
km. Udupi and Karwar are important stations in Karnataka.
Impact,
Current status and Tourist Spot: From the beginning, railway line was an
instant hit. It helped in reducing travel time between major cities of India by
10+ hours. Travel time between Mumbai and Mangalore was reduced by 26 hours. As
it offered beautiful scenery along the route it became one of the favorite rail
route. Most trains that were bound to Kerala and other south Indian states
were diverted on this line, it helped in boosting tourism industry. Locals too
benefited from this project as they got jobs in Konkan Railway Corporation as
promised. It marked the development of region and traders got wide opportunity
to sell their products. Many advanced features were introduced like Roll-on/roll-off
(RORO) service and introduction of Double
Decker trains. Konkan Railway has two
different time-tables, one for regular season and other for the monsoon season.
At present it carries 25 million passengers every year. As organization
still has to repay a heavy debt, they are planing to introduced more new features
and larger number of RORO trains. Konkan Railway plays a major role in reducing
the travel time to Goa, which is a major tourist destination in India. The
railway line was extended to Kerala and helps in boosting Kerala tourism
industry. In past to reach Kerala, the passengers had to follow a longer
route from eastern side of India. Now the trains are extended from Mangalore to
the various cities in Kerala. For Indian’s its is a matter of great pride and
respect for dedicated work of their engineers and workers. For foreigners it is
best train route to travel through western India. Dedication of engineers
working on this project can be understood from following lines:
“I take the
vision which comes from the dreams, apply the magic of science and mathematics
adding the heritage of my profession to create a design: I am an engineer I
serve mankind by making dream come true.”