CHENNAI: Travel time by trains between Chennai and Madurai is set to come down by 20 minutes from the first week of March with the entire 495-km between Egmore and Madurai fully electrified with double line.
The doubling works of the last stretch of 25 km track between Thamaraipadi and Kalpathichathiram in Tiruchy-Dindigul section was completed recently by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). The clearance by Commissioner of Railway Safety (southern circle) is being awaited for operating trains.
“The CRS inspection on the 25 km newly laid Thamaraipadi-Kalpathichathiram section is scheduled for February 26. On completion of safety inspection, the section is likely to be thrown open for traffic by March first week,” said a senior official of RVNL.
The electrification-cum-doubling of track in the 273 km Villupuram-Tiruchy-Dindigul section at an estimated cost of `1,200 crore was taken up by RVNL in 2008. The works were carried out simultaneously across various sections and thrown open for operation in a phased manner.
The line between Villupuram-Tiruchy-Kalpathichathiram (203 km) and Thamaraipadi-Dindigul (45 km) had already been electrified and thrown open for train operations.
The doubling-cum-electrification between Chengalpattu-Villupuram (102 km) and Dindigul-Madurai (62 km) was completed by 2015. Thus, out of the 495 km Chennai-Madurai line, the 25 km was delayed owing to issues in land acquisition, said official sources.
Currently, 14 daily express-cum-mail and 17 weekly and passenger trains pass through the single line between Kalpathichathiram and Thamaraipadi.
“Of the 31 trains, six daily trains, including passenger trains, are being stopped for 10 to 15 minutes at both sides to make way for trains from opposite direction. The tri-weekly and bi-weekly trains stopped for 20 minutes. Such delays would be removed fully,” the official said.
Officials said that the section would initially be cleared for operating trains at 65 to 80 km for six months and subsequently the speed limit would be increased to 95 km. As the track gets stabilised, the sectional speed would be increased to 110 km by 2019.
“However, it may take a few more years to achieve the speed of 120 km to 135 km for train operations in Chennai-Madurai section, like Chennai-Coimbatore section, where a few stretches have the speed limit of 120 km to 135 km,” said a senior official of Southern Railway.
The complete electrification would enable operation of additional trains to Madurai, Sengottai and Tirunelveli.