CHENNAI: In a major relief for thousands of passengers travelling on long-distance and suburban trains, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has accorded approval for the construction of a fourth Railway Line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu.
The 30.02-km-long line, which is estimated to cost Rs 757.18 crore, will be taken up at the earliest, said the Southern Railway.
“The new railway line would be with a maximum permissible speed of 160 kmph. All the new lines, especially in high density network (HDN) routes, are laid with the same speed,” said a senior railway official.
Presently, the Tambaram-Chengalpattu section is a three-line stretch on the Chennai Beach – Villupuram – Tiruchchirappalli - Kanyakumari mainline, serving both suburban and long-distance mail/express trains. Due to its heavy utilisation carrying suburban, Mail/Express, and freight traffic, the section experiences frequent congestion, impacting punctuality and capacity expansion, the national transporter said.
At present, the section’s line capacity utilisation stands at about 87 per cent, which is projected to rise to 136 per cent if the project is not implemented, it said, adding that the proposed fourth line will ease congestion, enable the extension of the dedicated suburban grid up to Chengalpattu, and promote a modal shift from road to rail, benefiting both passenger and freight traffic.
Besides the thousands of daily commuters, including school and college students, officegoers, IT professionals, and government employees, the project will also benefit commuters bound for the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, and ease congestion and enable smoother suburban train operations to the upcoming Kilambakkam railway station and thereby to the new Kilambakkam bus terminal, improving connectivity for daily commuters.
The upcoming Parandur greenfield airport near Kancheepuram will further intensify travel demand in the corridor.
Once Tambaram is developed as a major coaching terminal, the new line will meet the future traffic requirements, segregating suburban and Express services, improving operational efficiency, and reducing travel time for passengers, the Railways said.
The project is also expected to generate additional freight traffic of 1.344 million tonnes per annum, resulting in additional earnings of Rs 157 crore after commissioning, as the section covers many industrial units and SIPCOTs between Oragadam, Padappai, and Kancheepuram.
The proposal has been endorsed by the chairman and CEO of Railway Board, Member (Infra), Member (Operations & Business Development), and Member (Finance) of Railway Board, the statement added.