The Tamil Nadu government is ready to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Railways to implement three railway projects as part of the proposed Madurai-Tuticorin Industrial Corridor.
Indicating this in his letter to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Friday, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam referred to an offer made by Mr. Prabhu in his letter to all States last month to partner with his Ministry for creating special purpose vehicles (SPV) so that funds could be raised for the development of the rail network in the States.
The Chief Minister, in his letter, pointed out that the State government decided to take up the three railway projects — Chennai-Tuticorin freight corridor, Chennai-Madurai-Kanyakumari high speed passenger link and the Coimbatore-Madurai high speed passenger link — and it proposed in the Vision 2023 document to execute the projects in the public-private partnership mode. He also made suggestions on the nature of cooperation in promoting railway projects.
He pushed the case for integrating Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) with the Chennai Metro Rail. “The issue has been under consideration of the Railway Board for quite some time now. I believe this is a request which can be easily accepted as it would involve no financial outlay at all for the Railways.”
He also urged the Railways Minister to ensure adequate funds for the doubling of the Chennai
-Kanyakumari broad gauge line besides the Avadi-Guduvancheri line and the Avadi/Tiruvallur-Ennore port link. Giving a list of 22 projects which had been not been taken up for implementation despite having been announced in the previous Railway budgets, the Chief Minister wanted the Union government to set apart funds for expeditious completion.
