CHENNAI: Chief Minister Vijay’s demand for a Chennai-Kanniyakumari HighSpeed Rail (HSR) corridor at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting has revived discussions on the future of long-distance rail connectivity that comes amidst the growing passenger demands, lack of enough rail connectivity between the north and south and capacity constraints on existing routes.
While the Chief Minister did not specify an alignment for the proposed corridor, the demand has once again brought attention to the challenges of rail travel in the southern districts.
According to railway activist Naveen Chander, the discussion must be viewed against the backdrop of existing demand. “The Madurai-Kanniyakumari section was fully doubled only recently, as the entire corridor had depended on one single line for years. Even now, additional infrastructure has not translated into a corresponding increase in train services,” he noted.
The train from Kanniyakumari to Hyderabad via Chennai runs only once a week. The recent service from Thiruvananthapuram to Tambaram is also a weekly train. Innumerable demands to make the Nagercoil-Tambaram service a daily train, which currently runs only a couple of days a week remain unfulfilled.
In this context, the HSR proposal could not just be viewed as a future-looking necessity but a present demand that could really become a boon for commuters. “We pay a minimum of Rs 2,000 to omni buses for a single trip between Chennai and Nagercoil,” lamented Koushik Ramu.
Much like him many of the south-bound travellers argued that they solely rely on omni bus services and the idea of high speed trains could pave the way for smoother commutes and could emerge as a practical alternative to air travel.
Though HSR is capital intensive, the long-term benefit to the state’s economy is expected to be very high, say activists. Currently, corridors to Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been mentioned in the Union Budget, and activists see the Chennai-Kanniyakumari link as a vital next phase to ensure the southern districts are not left behind.
Patronage witnessed by premium trains operating towards southern Tamil Nadu, including services to Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil such as Vande Bharat and other premium services have demonstrated sustained demand from passengers travelling between Chennai and the southern districtsDayanand Krishnan, transportation activist
“Patronage witnessed by premium trains operating towards southern Tamil Nadu, including services to Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil districts such as Vande Bharat and other premium services have demonstrated the sustained demand from passengers travelling between Chennai and the southern districts,” noted transportation activist Dayanand Krishnan.
The idea of a Chennai-Kanniyakumari high-speed rail corridor is not new. More than a decade ago, the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had proposed a similar project in the Vision 2023. The proposal envisaged a 700-km Chennai-Madurai-Kanniyakumari high-speed rail link at an estimated cost of Rs 70,000 crore via Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tiruchy and Madurai.
Meanwhile, in March this year, Congress’s Mayiladuthurai MP R Sudha wrote to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking a Greenfield railway corridor named ‘Chola East Coast Railway’ from Chennai to Kanniyakumari through Mahabalipuram, Puducherry, Chidambaram, Velankanni, Rameswaram, Tiruchendur, Nagore, and Kanniyakumari while boosting tourism and economic activity.