CUDDALORE: Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Consumer Education and Development Foundation and Federation of Consumer Organisations, T Arulselvam, has submitted a petition to Cuddalore Collector Sibi Adhithya Senthil Kumar, requesting support for the new railway line planned by Southern Railway from Tindivanam to Cuddalore port junction via Puducherry, covering a distance of 65 kilometres.
Arulselvam said, “The original new line project from Chennai (Perungudi) to Mahabalipuram-Puducherry-Cuddalore was planned around the year 2000. The Chennai Beach–Perungudi section is part of the MRTS corridor and suitable for broad gauge train sets like Vande Bharat, EMU, and MEMU. This line was initially envisioned as a passenger route to promote new satellite townships. Now that convenient entry into Chennai via MRTS at Perungudi is not feasible, the coastal region of Tamil Nadu has only Tambaram as its entry point. We request the Railway Board to consider our proposal to develop this project as a Chengalpattu–Puducherry–Cuddalore dedicated double line passenger corridor, which is capable handling of speeds up to 160 or 180 kmph.”
The petition said the existing Tindivanam–Villupuram–Cuddalore line handles both freight and passenger traffic and is fit only for trains running on a speed of 110 kmph. While the Tindivanam to Chengalpattu section is already a double line, the Chengalpattu to Chennai Egmore section is being developed into a four-line corridor.
“Given these factors, the Tindivanam to Chengalpattu section is likely to become a bottleneck. Connecting the new line at Chengalpattu would ease flow towards Chennai and allow trains to bypass Chennai via Arakkonam,” the petition said.
The petition added that the new line should include halt stations at 3 km intervals to support the development of suburban settlements.