Thiruvananthapuram: The railways are yet to complete road overbridge work to replace level crossings in many places in the district, even though some of the projects are part of the doubling of the southern line. This is leading to road traffic congestion.The level crossings at Arikadamukku near Thiruvananthapuram South, in the Karamana-Kunjalumoodu area, and Kanthalur are not completed. The road overbridge at Studio Road near Thiruvananthapuram South was the only one that was completed. This is causing traffic delays, said Liyons J of Friends on Rails. “Many level crossings are yet to be replaced with subways or road overbridges,” he added. Motorists get held up, and the trains too have speed restrictions because of level crossings. Sources said the doubling of Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari line and redevelopment work at Thiruvananthapuram South is progressing but has missed the deadline. The railways had said that the work would be completed by March, but the work will not be completed in the next two to three months. The land has been cleared, and civil work is progressing at the South railway station. But the work on road overbridge is yet to start. The railways are taking up the line-doubling work in small sections. They recently completed doubling of Nagercoil-Eraniel stretch, and the entire focus was on that area, causing the work to slow down closer to the state capital. “The work is not being carried out in a uniform manner,” said a resident whose land was taken over for the work. A railway official said the doubling work is progressing, and it is nearing Thiruvananthapuram. The road overbridge work will also be taken up simultaneously. Though all level crossings will not be replaced, many of them were made into manned and interlocked ones for safety.
