Commissioner of Railway Safety, Bengaluru, Abay Kumar Rai will carry out statutory inspections on the Mannargudi - Nidamangalam and Cuddalore Port - Vriddhachalam electrified stretches, both falling under the Tiruchi Railway Division limits, on March 4.
An official communication in this regard from the office of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has been sent to the Southern Railway and Tiruchi Railway Division authorities.
The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE) had executed overhead electrification work on the 13-km Mannargudi- Nidamangalam and on the 55 km Cuddalore Port - Vriddhachalam broad gauge stretches recently.
A senior railway official told The Hindu on Tuesday that the CRS would first inspect the electrified Mannargudi - Nidamangalam BG section and inspect the Cuddalore Port - Vriddhachalam stretch thereafter.
The inspection of both sections would be conducted the same day. Only after CRS gives the authorisation post inspection can the railways operate electric loco-hauled passenger trains on both sections.
The Railway Board, New Delhi had entrusted CORE with the task of electrifying both sections, which were completed last month.
The Mannargudi - Nidamangalam and Cuddalore Port - Vriddhachalam are the latest stretches to have been electrified in the jurisdiction of the Tiruchi Railway Division. The stretches, which have been already electrified in the Tiruchi Railway Division limits are: Tiruchi - Thanjavur - Tiruvarur- Nagore- Nagapattinam-Karaikal and the 228 km main line section from Villupuram Junction to Thanjavur Junction via Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam.
CORE had carried out the overhead electrification project on the Tiruchi - Karaikal BG stretch, while the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Railways had electrified the main line section. CORE had also electrified the 5 km Karaikal Port siding, enabling operation of electric loco hauled freight trains from and to Karaikal Port.
