The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : 3 rail projects in State may figure in Budget

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 24, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

3 rail projects in State may figure in Budget

S.Vydhianathan

The Ministry has announced the formation of a new division in Salem

CHENNAI: Three new projects in the State are likely to be included in the Railway Budget, to be presented before Parliament by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday.

Conversion of Manamadurai-Virudhunagar and Dindigul-Pollachi-Coimbatore metre gauge sections and electrification of Villupuram-Tiruchi broad gauge section may find a place in the Budget, Railway officials said here. More funds may be sanctioned for various ongoing projects in the State. A few conversion projects in the State require substantial funds for their early completion. Tiruchi-Manamadurai, Tiruchi-Nagore, Cuddalore-Salem and Virudhunagar-Quilon conversion projects are in different stages of completion. The Ministry had announced last year that work on the above projects would be completed before the end of the current financial year. The Ministry had also targeted Tiruchi-Pudukottai, Thanjavur-Tiruvarur and Vriddhachalam-Attur sections for completion. However, they are yet to be completed.

Railway officials here hoped that sufficient funds would be allotted to complete dedicated lines for suburban services between Chennai Beach and Attipattu, the third line between Tiruvallur and Arakkonam and the fourth line between Pattibiram and Tiruvallur. In the absence of dedicatedlines for suburban traffic, the Southern Railway authorities could not operate more EMU services on these sections, thereby inconveniencing commuters. The progress of work in these sections, especially the Beach-Attipattu line of Chennai-Gudur section, was going on at snail's pace.

As the Ministry had already announced the formation of a new division in Salem in its supplementary Budget last year, substantial funds would be allotted for the same. The Railway Minister is likely to sanction more funds for passenger amenities in major stations in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, new Railway over-bridges might also be sanctioned in the Budget, officials added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail