Stone laid for track doubling, electrification of Madurai-Thiruvananthapuram section

The Madurai-Thiruvananthapuram section is divided into three sub-sections and complete electrification and double tracking would be carried out section wise. 

The first section, Madurai-Vanchimaniyachi-Thoothukudi section, which covers a distance of 160 km followed by Vanchimaniyachi-Tirunelveli-Nagercoil section, with a stretch of 102 km, and the last one Kanniyakumari-Nagercoil-Thiruvananthapuram section, which measures 85.56 km.

It is said that the electrification and track doubling would be carried out at a cost of Rs 3,618 crore and the project would be completed in three years. 

The railways has also planned several other amenities for the passengers. Officials say that an escalator at platform would be put up on no platform 2/3 at the Nagercoil junction at a cost of Rs 97 lakh. WiFi services and LED lighting would be provided at the junction at a cost of Rs 8.3 lakh. During the day, the minister launched the work on all these amenities.

The Minister said that once the project was completed, Kanniyakumari would be connected to the rest of the country by electrified fast alternative double tracks.

As far as Chennai was concerned, two routes would be available to connect with the southern tip of the country. One would be via Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram (1,007 km) and another would be via Madurai and Tirunelveli (742 kilometres). 

Also, more number of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU), intercity services and express trains would be introduced to connect Kanniyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram with other parts of the county after the completion of the projects and travel time too would be reduced considerably. 

When Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan was addressing the function, supporters of BJP shouted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name was quoted. However, supporters of the AIADMK countered the BJP supporters by shouting 'Purathchi Thalaivi Amma Vazhga'. Pon Radhakirshnan, on a couple of occasions, had warned cadre of both the parties to remain silent as it was a government function and not a party function.