Final survey nod for lines 5 & 6 of city-Tiruvallur-Arakkonam corridor

CHENNAI: The Centre has sanctioned a Final Location Survey (FLS) for the proposed fifth and sixth railway lines on the 68-km Chennai-Tiruvallur-Arakkonam suburban corridor to augment capacity and improve suburban rail connectivity, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to an unstarred question by Tiruvallur MP Sasikanth Senthil regarding the section that currently has four railway lines, Vaishnaw said the proposed expansion would require consultations with the Tamil Nadu government and approvals from agencies, including NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Finance, before it is taken up.

Vaishnaw said Tiruvallur and Gummidipoondi railway stations are among the 77 stations in Tamil Nadu identified for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

At Tiruvallur station, works including the extension and improvement of the station building, booking office, parking facilities, platform surface improvements on platforms 1 and 6, platform shelters, and structural works for the new concourse and entrance porch have been completed.

Construction of a 12-metre-wide foot overbridge, lifts, improvements to the circulating area and installation of new signages are under way.

At Gummidipoondi station, parking improvements, a second-entry booking office, platform surface upgrades on all four platforms and installation of lifts have been completed.

Construction of a new station building, pedestrian plaza, drainage, approach road at the first entry, an integrated passenger information system and a 12-metre-wide foot overbridge is in progress.

There are 26 manned level crossings in Tiruvallur, of which 16 Road Over Bridge (ROB) and Road Under Bridge (RUB) projects have been sanctioned for eliminating level crossings.

While the railway portion of the ROB at LC-13 between Tiruninravur and Tiruvallur has been completed and approach works are under way, other projects are at various stages, including construction, land acquisition, preparation of detailed project reports, approval of general arrangement drawings and alignment finalisation.

The minister said completion of railway infrastructure projects depends on factors such as land acquisition, statutory clearances, shifting of utilities, approvals from State authorities and other operational constraints.

Land acquisition has emerged as one of the biggest bottlenecks for railway infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu, with nearly three-fourths of the land required for ongoing projects yet to be acquired, the minister added.

Railway projects across the State require 4,612 hectares of land. However, only 1,178 hectares, or 26%, has been acquired so far, leaving 3,434 hectares pending.

The minister said timely acquisition of land by the State government, along with statutory and forest clearances, shifting of utilities, geological conditions and law and order issues, would determine the pace of completion of these railway projects.

LANDING TROUBLE

• Among the worst-affected projects is the proposed 88-km Attipattu-Puttur new railway line, for which none of the required 189 hectares has been acquired

• No land has been acquired for the 41-km Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line, which requires 204 hectares, and the 52-km Thanjavur-Pattukkottai new line, where 152 hectares is yet to be acquired

• The 71-km Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai new line has secured only 33 hectares out of the required 276 hectares, while the Morappur-Dharmapuri new line has acquired 47 hectares of the 93 hectares needed