With the Central government making a sizeable allocation of ₹88.9 crore to the 23.5-km Karaikal - Thirunallar-Peralam railway line, the rail link will be restored after a gap of over 30 years.
The Southern Railway Construction Organisation plans to take up construction of minor bridges on the stretch from next month. Bushes are being cleared between Thirunallar and Karaikal, said railway sources. The stretch will have a major bridge across the Vanjiaaru near Karaikal and 77 minor bridges.
New station buildings will come up at Thirunallar, Koilpathu, Pathakudi and Ambagarathur, for which the Railway Board has sanctioned ₹177. 89 crore in 2019 itself. However, the project could not gather pace owing to fund constraints. The allocation of ₹88.9 crore for the 2021-22 fiscal was substantial and would give an impetus to the project for which contractors had been identified and works awarded.
The revival of the rail link is expected to prove beneficial to the railways in the long run as it will cut short the time taken for freight trains carrying coal and other goods leaving Karaikal Port. Instead of taking a circuitous route via Nagore, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, these trains can take the Peralam-Mayiladuthurai route.
Most importantly, Thirunallar with the temple for Lord Saneeswarar, which attracts devotees from various parts of the country, will have rail connectivity. Once the project is completed, Peralam station, which is situated between Mayiladuthurai Junction and Tiruvarur Junction, would also become a junction.
Land aquisition
A metre gauge line existed between Karaikal and Peralam which was closed for rail traffic in the mid-1980s and the track was subsequently dismantled. As a railway line had already existed on the stretch, only three hectares of land near Peralam need to be acquired, for which Tiruvarur district authorities have been notified.
The Karaikal district administration, which comes under the Puducherry government, has also been notified to issue earth quarrying permit for the contractors. The Karaikal-Peralam stretch will have three manned level crossings and 23 subways - eight of which in Tiruvarur district. The entire project is scheduled for completion by by March 2024.
