The Thanjavur District Railway Users Association has urged the DMK Rajya Sabha member M. Shanmugam to prevail upon the Railway Board to approve doubling of the Thanjavur - Villupuram mainline section for operation of more trains in this route, its secretary in-charge A. Giri said in a memorandum submitted to him recently.
The section was one of the important stretches in the Tiruchi Railway Division. Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai were important revenue generating stations with high levels of passenger patronage and footfalls. They also have regular outward freight consignments of sugar and rice and inward consignment of fertilizer and cement.
The traffic capacity on the Thanjavur - Villupuram section had reached the saturation level with 104 % in Mayiladuthurai - Villupuram section and 95 % in the Thanjavur- Mayiladuthurai stretch. Passengers on the mainline section were deprived of required long distance trains as the stretch was a single line. Travelling public, trade bodies and consumer organisations have been consistently demanding doubling of the section which serves an alternative route to the chord line stretch from Tiruchi to Villupuram via Srirangam, Ariyalur and Vriddhachalam. Stations in the very old mainline section such as Thanjavur, Papanasam, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai, Chidambaram and Cuddalore fetch good revenue for the railways.
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Amid repeated pleas for doubling the Thanjavur - Villupuram section, the railway authorities had conducted a survey for track doubling.