KASARGOD: Uppala railway station in Kasargod will soon be Intermediate Block Signal (IBS)-enabled, a technique by which a block section between two neighbouring stations (Kumbala and Manjeshwaram) splits into two by provision of an additional signal remotely controlled from here.
An IBS station will not have a station master (SM) and the ticket dispensing system controlled by commercial staff. Uppala is the third station to go IBS in the division after Bekal Fort and Mankara. It will continue to have stoppages of the existing trains.
“It doesn’t mean degrading the station. It’s a common process after the electronic interlock system came into existence in signalling, which will be at a mouse click from the nearby station,” said the office of railway Palakkad division.
According to sources, eight railway staff here, including four SMs would be redeployed. According to rules, no SM is needed in a station which doesn’t have loop line (a less important line which leaves the main line and then rejoins it later, continuing in the same direction).
However, local people have not received it well. They have formed ‘Save Uppala Railway Station’ forum to resist its ‘degradation’.
“We strongly suspect attempts to degrade the station, which caters to close to 1.66 lakh people,” says Azeem Manimunda, its convenor. He says Mangaluru-bound ordinary people, especially students and private employees, are depending on the railway.
“The railways says there is no revenue generation from the station. Without giving stoppage to more trains how can it be possible,” asks S.V. Bhat, a trader.
Five trains, including Malabar Express, stop here. The forum has sought Kasargod MP's intervention.
