The Railway Board has sanctioned two railway infrastructure projects with a combined estimated cost of Rs. 41.78 bn in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The approvals cover the construction of additional lines on the Arakkonam-Renigunta and Salem-Karur-Dindigul sections to improve capacity, freight movement and regional connectivity.

The 77-km Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth line project has been approved at a cost of Rs. 19.36 bn. The section forms part of the Mumbai-Chennai High-Density Network and is currently operating at around 120 per cent of its line capacity. The additional lines are expected to create capacity for 7.21 mn tonnes of freight traffic annually.

The project is also intended to improve rail access to important economic centres, including SIDCO Tiruvallur, SIPCOT Ranipet and cement manufacturing clusters in and around Arakkonam. The expansion will provide additional infrastructure on a heavily utilised route connecting industrial areas and major transport corridors in southern India.

The 159-km Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling project has received formal approval at a cost of Rs. 22.42 bn. Of this amount, Rs. 15.8 bn has been allocated for civil works, Rs. 2.82 bn for signalling and telecommunications, and Rs. 3.8 bn for electrical works, including traction and general electrical systems.

The Salem-Karur-Dindigul section currently has a single line and is an important link between Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu’s southern districts. Once this doubling project and the Hosur-Omalur section are completed, a continuous double-line corridor is expected to connect Bengaluru towards Madurai and Thoothukudi.

The two projects are part of a wider nationwide multi-tracking package covering five projects across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. The package has a combined estimated cost of Rs. 100.21 bn and will add around 540 km to the Indian Railways network across 17 districts. The projects are planned for completion by FY30.