KOLLAM: Southern Railway plans to submit the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed third railway line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari by March 2027. The final location survey for the proposed line has already been sanctioned, railway officials said.
Meanwhile, doubling works on the existing Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari section are progressing, with around 60% of the physical works completed. According to railway officials, the doubling project is targeted for completion by March 2029.
In an RTI reply to railway enthusiast Naveen Chander, Southern Railway said Rs 1,400 crore has been allocated in 2026-27 for the doubling works.
The 86.56-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari section, covering Kerala and Tamil Nadu, was sanctioned for doubling in August 2017. Of the total length, 32.63 km has already been commissioned, while the remaining 53.93 km is under progress, according to project details.
The project is being executed in five phases. The 13.37-km Eraniel-Nagercoil Town section was commissioned in March 2026, following the commissioning of the 4.33-km Nagercoil Town-Nagercoil Junction section and 14.93-km Nagercoil Junction-Kanniyakumari section, both in March 2024.
The remaining works include the 16.01-km Kulitturai-Eraniel stretch, targeted for December 2028, and stretches between Thiruvananthapuram and Kulitturai. The 7.72-km Thiruvananthapuram-Nemam, 5.37-km Nemam-Balaramapuram, 4.01-km Balaramapuram-Neyyattinkara, 12.48-km Neyyattinkara-Parassala and 8.34-km Parassala-Kulitturai stretches are under progress, with targeted completion dates ranging from January 2027 to March 2029.
The project requires 97.10 hectares of land, of which 85.55 hectares have been taken into possession. Nearly 88% of the required land has been acquired, while around 38% of the sanctioned 86.56-km rail-line length has been commissioned.