Kerala: Road, railway services being fully restored

Kochi: The rail and road services across the state were almost fully restored after four days on Sunday with flood waters receding even in the severely-hit northern regions.

Train services were completely restored in the affected Palakkad-Ottapalam and Senkottai-Punalur sections as several key long haul trains like Kerala Express resumed normal services.

However, rail traffic in Shoranur-Kuttipuram and Ferok-Kallayi sections continued to be affected. "An expert team will conduct final inspection on Ferok bridge on Monday morning following which a decision will be taken whether to open the section for traffic or not," said a senior railway official.

A total of seven express trains and six passenger trains were fully cancelled on Sunday, mainly those running through the Kozhikode route. While 11 long-distance trains were partially cancelled, two trains were operated on a diverted route via Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Karur and Salem.

All reserved passengers of cancelled trains are being provided full refund. As a special case, Southern Railway has extended the Ticket Deposit Receipt issue (refund) period up to August 15. Three helpdesk numbers (9188292595, 9188293595 and 1072) are functional to give up-to-date information regarding train services.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) restored services in almost all routes across the state. "We resumed services in Kozhikode-Palakkad, Mysore-Kozhikode (NH-766), Palakkad-Guruvayur, Sultan Bathery-Kozhikode (via Thamarassery Churam) on Sunday. A special multi-axle Scania services was operated to Bangalore via Salem," said a senior KSRTC official.

The corporation continued to operate special services connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode airports till Sunday night.

"The services through AC road and Kumarakom-Vaikom section are yet to be fully restored as certain portions are still inundated by flood waters," the official said.