CRS inspection of Pamban bridge on Nov 13, 14

Madurai: Commissioner of railway safety (CRS), southern circle, A M Chowdhary, will conduct the mandatory safety inspection of the new Pamban rail bridge on Nov 13 and 14. The CRS certification will herald the inauguration of the new vertical span lift bridge across the Pamban channel.
According to an official communication, the CRS will arrive at 5.50pm on Nov 12 and proceed to Rameswaram. He will inspect the bridge and the new broad gauge railway line on the diverted alignment between Mandapam and Pamban railway station on Nov 13. The inspection will commence at 8.30am on that day. The next day, the CRS will conduct a speed trial and a demonstration of the vertical span of the new bridge. He will arrive in Madurai at 6.10pm and depart for Bengaluru later.
Once the CRS certifies the bridge, it will be commissioned for train traffic. The rail traffic between Mandapam and Rameswaram stations was stopped after the safety sensors on the century-old bridge issued a red alert in Dec 2022. The railway ministry began constructing a new railway bridge with a vertical span in 2019, but the works were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.