THOOTHUKUDI: Southern Railways officials inspected the newly doubled and electrified track between Meelavittan and Thoothukudi, which covers a distance of 7.67 km. Southern circle commissioner of railway safety Anant Madhukar Chowdhary led the inspection team. A high-speed trial run on electric loco was conducted between Thattaparai Railway Station and Thoothukudi railway station.
A spokesperson said Chowdhary inspected the Meelavittan-Thoothukudi section phase-wise. "The inspection will continue with cut and connection, and signalling. Until authorisation of the doubling works, certain sections in the middle of Madurai and Thoothukudi track will have traffic on double tracks. As part of the project, Thoothukudi-Meelavittan yards are to be remodelled before the double track is commissioned for railway traffic," he added.
The 158.81 km long Meelavittan-Thoothukudi track doubling project was sanctioned in August 2017 and entrusted to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for the execution at an estimated cost of `1,890.66 crore.
Various sections between Thoothukudi and Madurai have been commissioned and completed previously. Kadambur - Thattaparai (30km) stretch was commissioned on July 15, 2020, Thirumangalam - Tulukapatty (41.18km) on March 31, 2021, Thattappari - Meelavittan (7.47 km) one August 18, 2021, Tulukapatti-Kovilpatti (32.86 km) on March 31, 2022, Kovilpatti - Kadambur (22.31km ) on January 11, 2023, and Madurai - Thirumangalam (17.32km) on March 03, 2023. The expenditure of the project until March 2023 has been projected at `1,765.39 crore, said sources.