CHENNAI: The newly laid five-km 4th line between Thiruvottriyur and Korukkupet will be inspected by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Southern Circle) on July 28. The competent authority for rail safety will conduct a high-speed trial run between Thiruvottriyur and Korukkupet stations between 2 pm and 5 pm on July 28, said a statement from the Railways.
“Once the speed trial is completed, the section will be opened for traffic after completing the due statutory procedures,” said a railway official.The 5-km new line was a part of the 4th lane works between Chennai Beach and Athipattu, which was built with an expectation to ease the service of the Express trains and EMU locals which regularly suffer a detention at Thiruvottriyur.
The Chennai-Athipattu-Gummidipundi-Gudur section is one of the busiest stretches in the Southern Railway, as the route handles suburban trains, passenger trains, Express and goods trains throughout the day.
The trains had to compete with each other for getting the green signal in both directions. Currently, trains from New Delhi, Howrah and Hyderabad are given a top priority, followed by the goods trains.
To cater to the additional demand, the Railways proposed to develop the 21.5-km 3rd and 4th tracks between Chenani Beach and Athipattu at the cost of `150 crore. However, the project got struck in the land acquisition issue for several years.
Extra measures
As the works did not progress in the Chennai Beach-Korukkupet stretch, the Railways have taken up the additional track-laying works in the Korukkupet-Athipattu section. The third line between Korukkupet and Athipattu was thrown open for traffic in October 2014, while the fourth line in the Athipattu-Ennore-Thiruvottriyur section was also put into service in 2016. “Now, the Korukkupet-Athipattu section will have four lines. Third line works between Chennai Beach and Korukkupet will be taken up soon,” said a Railway source to Express.