Valadi-Ariyalur railway track doubling work to begin soon

MADURAI: Work to lay the second railway track between Valadi and Ariyalur, as part of the Villupuram-Tiruchi-Dindigul doubling project, would begin soon, the Madurai Divisional Railway Manager (additional charge), P.V. Vaidialingam, said.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, he said that this small stretch was a critical one on the Chennai-Madurai sector. Stating that three cement factories were on this stretch, he said that an additional track would ease traffic, especially in movement of goods trains.

Work on the 49-km-stretch would be taken up at a cost of Rs. 60 crore. However, he said that the real improvement on rail traffic could be seen only when the doubling work was completed on the Villupuram-Tiruchi-Dindigul section. The project had been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 1,200 crore and the work awarded to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.

Since the Chennai-Madurai sector was over-utilised, it was difficult for the railways to introduce even one more additional train. The second line would significantly increase the track capacity. Doubling work between Madurai and Dindigul had been completed.

On electrification, Mr. Vaidialingam said that the work between Tiruchi and Madurai was expected to be completed by March 31. It would facilitate increasing the speed of trains and also the haulage capacity of goods trains. The Additional Divisional Railway Manager, T. Venkatasubramanian, was present.