Work on the conversion of Mayiladuthurai-Tiruvarur-Karaikudi metregauge section into broadgauge needs to be expedited with due priority in allocation of funds.
This is the oldest and the last metre gauge to be taken up for gauge conversion three years ago.
It was on October 19, 2012 that the last metregauge service was operated on this section and the work on gauge conversion was taken up the next day, bringing the curtains down on the 110-year-old metregauge line established on October 20, 1902 by the erstwhile South Indian Railway Company. This was the last of the metergauge section, with a length of 76-km to be taken up for broadgauge conversion.
The work for gauge conversion was taken up at an estimate of Rs. 1,005 crore three years ago.
The work on 39-km Mayiladuthurai-Tiruvarur section and the 13.4-km Needamangalam-Mannargudi stretch had been completed and since been opened up for passenger traffic.
The new alignment under the project was Mannargudi-Pattukottai line.
The alleged delay in initiating the broadgauge conversion works along Tiruvarur-Pattukottai line had spawned a couple of public interest litigations, and scores of agitations.
A number of service organisations, including the Chamber of Commerce of Aranthangi, had been in the forefront, demanding expeditious gauge conversion works on Tiruvarur-Pattukottai line on priority basis.
The section is interspersed with several rivers that may make it a long-winding and critical engineering endeavour with lengthy bridge over rivers according to railway sources.
According to a cross section of railway commuters, the work would go a long way in catering to the needs of the college students and office-goers in and around Aranthangi. Although some work was initiated in the vicinity of the Tiruvarur railway station, it has been lying in cold storage for the past one year.
Assurance
Railway officials assured that the work would be expedited on a priority basis.
