Southern Railway Injects ₹6,331 Crore into TN Infrastructure

The Southern Railway has been earmarked approximately Rs 6,331 crore for Tamil Nadu in the financial year 2024-25 to facilitate various infrastructure initiatives. These projects encompass the redevelopment of stations, construction of flyovers and underpasses, foot over bridges, and doubling projects.

Compared to the previous fiscal year's budget of Rs 6,080 crore for the state, this allocation reflects an increase. Union Minister of State for Railways, Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced the approval of 12 new railway lines, with 10 projects slated for execution in Tamil Nadu. Noteworthy among these are the Chennai-Cuddalore via Mamallapuram, Sriperumbudur-Guduvancherry, Tindivanam-Nagari, Erode-Palani, and Attipattu-Puttur routes. The collective budget for these new line projects is Rs 976.12 crore.

Under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme, the Ministry is overseeing the redevelopment of 77 railway stations in the state. Additionally, the implementation of 654 flyovers and underpasses, along with the installation of 116 foot over bridges at various railway stations, demonstrates a significant infrastructural stride.

Work is already underway on the doubling of the track from Chennai Beach to Egmore (4.3 km) at a cost of Rs 150 crore. The Southern Railway will also spearhead three gauge conversion projects: Maniyachi-Nagercoil (102 km) at Rs 116 crore, Madurai-Maniyachi-Tuticorin (160 km) at Rs 150 crore, and Kanniyakumari-Trivandrum (86.56 km) at Rs 365 crore.

A gauge conversion project for the Tiruchi-Nagore-Karaikal stretch, including an extension to Nagapattinam-Velankanni, is set to commence at a cost of Rs 150 crore. The allocated budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, amounting to Rs 6,331 crore, signifies a substantial increase compared to the average outlay of Rs 879 crore from 2009-14.

News by Rahul Yelligetti