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Chengalpattu-Villupuram BG track likely by December

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI Aug. 9. The electrification of the BG track between Chengalpattu and Villupuram is likely to be completed by October and the line may be opened to traffic by December this year.

The overhead equipment work between Mailam and Mundiampakkam, about 10 km from Villupuram, is in progress and the installation of OHE up to Villupuram will be over before the end of this month. After that, electrification work at the Villupuram junction would be taken up.

As there will be a change of traction from diesel to electric and vice versa, an electric locomotive shed and infrastructure facilities have to be created at the Villupuram junction. These works would take at least a month, according to officials here.

After completing the work, the Commissioner of Railway Safety would inspect the electrified track for passenger traffic. It is expected that the CRS inspection would be conducted in the middle of October and after his clearance, the electrified track would be handed over to the Southern Railway for passenger and freight traffic.

Once the track is available for passenger traffic, all the South-bound express and passenger trains will be hauled by electric locomotives from Egmore to Villupuram on both directions and from there by diesel locos. There would be some reduction in running time following the change of traction.

Officials, however, are of the view that there is no point in having the electrified track up to Villupuram. It should be extended to Madurai or at least up to Tiruchi. The proposal was mooted by late Arangarajan Kumaramangalam, when he was the Union Minister for Power. Now there was no one to take up the proposal.

After the completion of Chengalpattu— Villupuram work, no other electrification work is left in Tamil Nadu. As the Railway Ministry is against taking up electrification work in any State in the absence of concessional power tariff by the respective State Government, officials want the State to lower the tariff. They cited the case of Kerala, where a subsidised tariff was charged for the railways.

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