Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4th rail line survey soon

CHENNAI: There’s good news for railway passengers travelling via the congested Tambaram-Chengalpattu line. The Ministry of Railways has sanctioned funds for a survey for a forth railway line between Tambaram-Chengalpattu and four other locations at Rs 11.52 crore. Though a start, the process will speed up the construction of the long-pending fourth line in the highly congested Tambaram-Chengalpattu section, the southern gateway to the metropolis.

“The Ministry has given nod to conduct final local surveys to facilitate five major rail line projects in Southern Railway,” a railway board notification said. “The railway line projects for quadrupling include Tambaram-Chengalpattu (4th line), Jolarpettai-Coimbatore (3rd and 4th lines), Coimbatore-Shoranur (3rd and 4th lines) and Arakkonam-Renigunta (3rd and 4th lines), it added.

The notification also spoke about the long pending doubling project between Thanjavur Jn, Tiruvarur Jn, and Karaikal.

The length of the total rail line to be surveyed is around 576 kilometres, of which the longest stretch is Jolarpettai-Coimbatore with 282 kilometres. Rs 5.64 crore has been sanctioned to survey this stretch, the circular said.According to Southern Railway sources, daily 84 (up and down) services are operated on the Tambaram-Chengalpattu route, with an average footfall of over two lakh a day.

“Tambaram-Chengalpattu, Jolarpettai-Coimbatore and Arakkonam-Renigunta are areas that have been crying for attention. After this, the Railways should focus on areas like Madurai where the stretch has been denied its due for decades. Quadrupling of the Tambaram-Chengalpattu stretch is highly commendable as it will reduce the congestion and high traffic in this route,” said D Manoharan, ex-central office-bearer of Dakshin Railways Employees’ Union.

Fourth track to be a relief: Commuters

“The expansion proposal of the extra track line on the Tambaram-Chengalpattu route will benefit daily commuters like me,” said V Prasath, an employee in a private company in Chennai. “Usually the trains running in the route are heavily packed during peak hours, and commuters are left frustrated,” he said.

“Already, the Tambaram-Chengalpattu route has three tracks. If a fourth track is laid with up and down services, then it will facilitate huge benefits for the passengers,” explained a senior official with Southern Railway Chennai division. “The frequency of the train services would increase and detention of trains will be reduced in future, which is a mountainous leap towards providing flawless service,” he added.

Another senior official expressed his reservations as the Arakkonam — Jolarpettai stretch was missing in the new circular issued by the Board. “We want more tracks as the demand is also high between Arakkonam and Jolarpettai,” the official quipped.

Railway sources further said that with the Vande Bharat and fast trains becoming the need of the hour, the Southern Railway, as one of the major income generation zones, needs more tracks and infra boost.