New Developments in Railways with various infrastructural projects like Doubling, Tripling, Gauge conversion and electrification under progress in Tamil Nadu

The state of Tamil Nadu is witnessing a new era in rail development with various infrastructural projects like Doubling, tripling, Gauge conversion and electrification being executed at a faster pace. The annual budgetary outlay for Railways in the state of Tamil Nadu for the financial year 2022-23 is Rs.3865 crores.

More details:

• In comparison to the annual outlay of FY 2014-15, the outlay of the current financial year 2022-23 has increased four-fold.  There is also an increase in the current financial year’s outlay by 67% when compared with the average outlay for the last eight years, i.e. 2014 to 2022.
• The following infrastructural projects were completed and commissioned in the state of Tamil Nadu in the last 8 years (since 2014).

Gauge Conversion:

• 400 Km of Gauge conversion projects have been completed and commissioned in Tamil Nadu during the 8 year period from 2014-2022.
• This includes the Gauge conversion of Palani – Pollachi – Palakkad Town (116.66 Km), Sengottai-New Aryankavu (19.11 Km), Pollachi-Podanur (39.79 Km), Thiruvarur–Tiruturaipundi- Pattukottai- Karaikkudi (149 Km) and Madurai – Teni (75 Km) sections.

Doubling/Tripling/Quadrupling of Tracks:

• A total of 639.22 Km of Doubling, Tripling & Quadrupling works have been completed in Tamil Nadu during the 8 year period from 2014-2022.
• Average Doubling/Tripling/Quadrupling of Railway lines completed during 2014-22 is 80 Kms.

The doubling projects completed during the 8-year period were:

Sl.No.	Project/Section	Km
1	Kallakkudi Palaganantham – Ariyalur	24.5
2	Chengalpattu – Karunguzhi – Madurantakam	24.65
3	Tozhuppedu – Olakur – Tindivanam – Perani	40.2
4	Villupuram – Thiruvennainallur-Vriddhachalam-Mathur-Ariyalur	108.78
5	Tiruchchirappalli-Manapparai – Kalpattichatram- Tamaraipadi-Dindigul	90.17
6	Ponmalai Bypass	2.3
7	Valadi-GoldenRock(18km), GoldenRock-Solagampatti(18.21km), Solagampatti-Thanjavur	29
8	Thakkolam-Arakkonam	11.29
9	Tirumangalam-Thulukkapatti-Kovilpatti-Kadambur-VanchiManiyachi-Gangaikondan-Tirunelveli & Kadambur-Thattaparai-Milavittan	129
10	Omalur-MecheriRoad-MetturDam	29

The tripling, quadrupling and other multi-tracking projects completed during the 8-year period were:

Sl.No.	Project/Section	Km
1	Ponmalai-Tiruchchirappalli 3rd line	2.84
2	Tambaram-Chengalpattu 3rd line	30
3	Chennai Beach- Attipattu 4th line	22.1
4	Chennai Beach – Korukkupet 3rd line	4.2
5	5th and 6th lines between Chennai Central and Basin Bridge	4.4

Fast Track Electrification:

• Electrification of railway lines paves the way for environmental- friendly transportation, cutting of energy costs besides facilitating seamless connectivity and faster travel. Indian Railways is marching ahead in its ambitious mission to achieve 100% electrification of the entire railway network by 2023.
• Taking Mission 2023 forward, Southern Railway has completed electrification of over 82% of its network so far. In the state of Tamil Nadu, 1664 route kilometers of railway tracks have been electrified during the 8-year period from 2014-2022. This is an increase of 170% when compared to the electrification projects completed during 2009-2014.
• The electrification projects completed during the 8 year period from 2014 to 2022 in Tamil Nadu were:
  • Villupuram-Katpadi (150 km),
  • Virudunagar-Tuticorin&Tirunelveli (145 km),
  • Coimbatore North – Mettupalayam (33 km),
  • Erode-Karur-Tiruchchirappalli (140km),
  • Karur-Dindigul (71 km),
  • Salem-Karur (83.45 km),
  • Villupuram-CuddalorePortJn. (47.70km),
  • Tiruchchirappalli-Thanjavur (45.14km),
  • Arakkonam-TakkolamDetourline (11.29km),
  • Thanjavur -Thiruvarur (54.06 km),
  • CuddalorePort-Thiruvarur (114km),
  • ThiruchchirappalliTown-GoldenRockbypass (2.07km),
  • Thiruvarur – Nagore (31.87 km),
  • Mayiladuturai -Thanjavur (68 km),
  • Vriddhachalam-CuddalorePort (55.48km),
  • Nidamangalam-Mannargudi (13.98km),
  • Pollachi – Podanur (41.22 km),
  • Madurai – Manamadurai (47.54 km),
  • Salem-Attur-Vriddhachalam (136km),
  • Manamadurai – Ramanathapuram (60.67 km),
  • Tiruchchirappalli-Pudukottai-Karaikkudi (89.13km),
  • Palani – Pollachi – Muthalamada (84.4 km)
  • Manamadurai-Virudhunagar (63.22km).
• In line with the robust policies of Govt.of India, Railways focus o­n expeditious completion of infrastructural projects and electrification, marching ahead in its objective to attain self-sufficiency

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Source: Southern Railway -Press Release | Image Credit (representational): Southern Railway