CHENNAI: The union government’s recent decision to double the railway line between Hosur and Dindigul via Omalur, Salem and Karur is expected to significantly improve train connectivity between Bengaluru and the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, including Madurai and Tirunelveli. The project is also expected to shorten the rail distance between Bengaluru and Coimbatore by 43 km and reduce travel time by at least 30 minutes.
Trains currently operating via Hosur cover about 376 km between Bengaluru and Coimbatore, compared with 419 km via the alternative route through Tirupattur.
At present, the Bengaluru-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express takes six hours and 20 minutes via Hosur, while the Uday Express, which runs via Tirupattur, takes around six hours and 50 minutes.
A few days after the centre’s approval, the construction wing of Southern Railway invited tenders for geotechnical investigations and boundary stone fixing for the Salem-Karur-Dindigul line doubling, Morappur-Dharmapuri new line and the Erode-Karur doubling projects. About Rs 7 crore has been earmarked for the preliminary works.
Official sources said the railways would take up land acquisition and tendering upon completion of the geotechnical investigations.
At present, the Bengaluru-Jolarpettai-Salem route has two lines. The 48-km Baiyappanahalli (Bengaluru)-Hosur stretch, however, has a single line, with doubling work expected to be completed by January next year.
The 147-km Hosur-Dharmapuri-Omalur stretch is also a single line, while the 8.2-km Omalur-Salem section already has two lines. Further south, the 159-km Salem-Karur-Dindigul stretch remains a single-line corridor. The Dindigul-Madurai-Tirunelveli section has double lines.
The railways plans to execute the doubling of the Hosur-Dindigul route as separate projects – Hosur-Omalur and Salem-Karur-Dindigul – covering a combined distance of about 306 km.
The Hosur-Omalur line doubling project is to be implemented at an estimated Rs 1,948 crore. It involves the construction of 20 major bridges and 359 minor ones. The Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling project is to be taken up at Rs 2,242 crore and includes 18 major and 241 minor bridges.
“Once these works are completed, a continuous double-line corridor will be available from Bengaluru towards Madurai and Thoothukudi, enabling the railways to operate more trains.
The Hosur, Dharmapuri and Omalur regions, however, have geographically challenging terrain, which could pose difficulties during execution,” the official said.
The Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling project could also face geographical constraints, the official added.
