CHENNAI: After years of missed deadlines, the doubling-cum-electrification of railway lines between Madurai and Nagercoil is expected to be completed by July next year. As of May 31, about 70% of the line-doubling work was completed in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Nagercoil. The work is expected to reduce the travel time of trains heading from Chennai to Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi by 15-20 minutes.
Doubling of the track has been a long-pending demand of people in Southern districts, as the sole Madurai-Thiruvananthapuram railway line is saturated with utilisation of over 120%. As much as 181.01 km of the proposed 262.49 km second track in the Madurai-Nagercoil section has been laid, said official sources from Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, (RVNL), a special purpose vehicle of the Indian Railways that undertakes construction projects.
The Railways started doubling of the Madurai-Vanchi Maniyachi-Thoothukudi (160 km) and Vanchi Maniyachi-Nagercoil (102.49 km) tracks in 2018-19, and scheduled for them to be commissioned by December 2020 and July 2021 respectively. But the projects were delayed due to issues in land acquisition, approval for construction of bridges, the pandemic, and a shortage of funds.
Of the 160-km Madurai-Thoothukudi section, a second line between Thirumangalam and Milavittan (133.82 km) was laid and opened for traffic. The last section cleared by the commissioner of railway safety was a 33-km track between Kovilpatti and Thulakpati.
“About 50% of the work has been completed on lines in two stretches — Madurai-Thiruparankundram-Thirumangalam (17.32 km), and Milavittan-Thoothukudi (7.67 km). Land acquisition issues are delaying the work,” said a top official. RVNL said acquisition of 119.6 hectares to lay 24.99 km of tracks is in the final stage, and the work will be completed by December this year.
Work on 47.19 km out of 102.49 km in the Vanchi Maniyachi-Nagercoil section has been completed (see infographic). “As for the work on the Tirunelveli-Valliyur and Aralvaymozhi-Nagercoil lines, acquisition of 75.14 hectares of land is in progress, and the work will be completed by July next year,” added the official.
Passengers, meanwhile, complain that travel time hasn’t been reduced. “Since the lines were doubled, trains no longer halt between Thirumangalam and Vanchi Maniyachi due to congestion. But they still run as per the timetable released before the pandemic. The benefit of the new infrastructure should be transferred to passengers,” said R Krishnan, a regular passenger.
A senior railway official said the travel time will be reduced when a new timetable is prepared. “In a few places, the first line is being relaid for safety reasons,” the official added.
Progress tracker
Madurai-Vanchi Maniyachi-Thoothukudi: 160 km
Vanchi Maniyachi-Nagercoil: 102.49 km