Never sought scrapping of Madurai-Thoothukudi new line: Minister Sivasankar

CHENNAI: Transport Minister SS Sivasankar on Saturday dismissed Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s claim that the State government did not want the new railway line between Madurai and Thoothukudi via Aruppukottai as false and the government has only sought speeding up of the work.

“The State government had never sought scrapping of the Madurai- Thoothukudi railway line. Can the BJP govt be biased and neglect the scheme merely because it belongs to Tamil Nadu?” he said in a statement.

Pointing to the State government letter dated December 12, 2024, to the Southern Railway GM seeking status of the projects in the State, Sivasankar said that the SR’s deputy chief engineer, in a letter dated December 19, stated that it has completed 18 km of track between Milavittan and Melmarudur in the Madurai-Thoothukudi new line, and that it has dropped the work on the rest of the section citing low freight prospects by the SR.

Sivasankar said that the M had written a letter to the railway minister on August 19, 2024, to allocate adequate funds for the projects including the Madurai-Thoothukudi new line. “The district collectors of Madurai, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi wrote to SR in August and September last year seeking allocation of adequate funds but no response from the railway so far. Did the Railway Minister know about these letters?” he asked.

He said that for the new Madurai-Thoothukudi railway line, the railway department has sought to acquire 926.68.84 hectares of land for the district collectors of Madurai, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi. He added that the work for the land acquisition is going in two phases and the government has passed orders.

The Minister demanded the Railway minister allocate adequate funds for the project and complete works at the earliest as requested by the chief minister.