The Villupuram – Tiruchi broad gauge section would soon become a double line stretch with the work of laying a second line in the last portion near Tiruchi having been completed.
Doubling – cum – electrification in the final portion between Valadi and Golden Rock railway stations near Tiruchi is over and ready for inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, Bengaluru.
The CRS would carry out his mandatory inspection of the 20-kilometre stretch on March 30. Barring the Valadi – Golden Rock stretch, track doubling works had been completed in the remaining portions from Villupuram to Tiruchi with the second line thrown open to rail traffic in various stretches after obtaining safety clearance from the CRS.
Six new major bridges have been constructed between Valadi and Golden Rock as part of the doubling project that is being executed by the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RNVL), a Government of India Enterprise. The new bridges include the ones constructed across the Cauvery and the Coleroon at Tiruchi.
RVNL sources said a new station building had been built at Uthamarkoil and a high-level platform constructed at Bikshandarkoil – both near Tiruchi. A 540-metre-long additional high-level platform has been constructed at Srirangam railway station as part of the project to accommodate coaches of long distance trains as well, the sources said.
Railway sources said the CRS would conduct a day-long inspection on the newly-laid second broad gauge line between Valadi and Golden Rock from 8 a.m. on March 30. The CRS would at first carry out motor trolley inspection on the second track and thereafter conduct a high speed trial travelling onboard a special train between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., the same day.
Caution
The railway administration has cautioned the public not to approach or trespass the railway line when the high speed trial was on. Valadi-Golden Rock is the last stretch in the 170-km Villupuram – Tiruchi broad section that is due for inspection by the CRS following completion of track doubling works, said a senior RVNL official.
Once this last stretch gets the mandatory clearance from the CRS for operation of rail traffic, the entire Villupuram – Tiruchi broad gauge section would become a double line stretch which could cut down the running time of trains, the official added.
The RVNL is executing the doubling project up to Dindigul via Tiruchi from Villupuram with works simultaneously being carried out in different portions at an estimated cost of ₹ 1,200 crore.
