Construction of the Karaikal-Peralam new broad gauge line will be completed by June, M.S. Anbalagan, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchi, said here on Saturday.
Once the line is completed, rail connectivity will be restored on the 23-km stretch between Karaikal in Puducherry and Peralam in Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu after 30 years. The metre gauge line, which existed between Karaikal and Peralam, was closed in the mid-1980s and the track was removed.
The new line, being built at a cost of ₹320 crore, is expected to give a push to freight movement from Karaikal port, besides catering to pilgrims and tourists. The line will have four stations in between — Ambagarathur (halt), Pattakudi (halt), Tirunallar, and Karaikovilpathu (halt), Mr. Anbalagan said at a press conference.
He said work on the electrification of 150-km-long Tiruvarur-Karaikudi section would begin within the next couple of months after the finalisation of tender. The section passes through Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, and Sivaganga districts. A final location survey for doubling of the Thanjavur-Karaikal section was under way, he added.
Amrit Bharat Station
Kumbakonam, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, and Vriddhachalam in Tiruchi Railway Division are among the 554 railway stations which are to get a facelift under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone virtually on February 26. Various amenities, including the passenger circulation area, facade, platforms, and other passenger amenities would be improved under the projects.
The Kumbakonam station will undergo major redevelopment at an estimated cost of ₹120.67 crore. The station would get an arrival and departure lobby, besides the parking area, escalators, and a gallery on Swamy Vivekananda, commemorating his visit to Kumbakonam when he gave the clarion call “Arise, Awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.’’
A festival shed, with ticket booking counters, would be built at Tiruvannamalai station to cater to devotees performing girivalam.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for seven overbridges to be built at a cost of ₹224.94 crore at Thiruppadripuliyur, Manakkal, Pallavarayanpettai, Mapadugai, Sanjeevi Nagar, Alathur and Villiyanur in Tiruchi Railway Division. He will dedicate to the nation 26 railway bridges, built at a cost of ₹91.11 crore, Mr. Anbalagan said.
To a question, Mr. Anbalagan said the National Highways Authority of India had agreed to consider the demand for an underpass across the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass at G. Corner and the Railways had assured all required assistance for the same.
