Study on for rail link to nine towns in Tamil Nadu

Southern Railway has decided to conduct a feasibility study to provide rail connectivity to nine towns—Valparai, Gobichettipalayam, Krishnagiri, Edappadi, Devakottai, Kambam, Dharapuram, Pernampattu and Kallakuruchi—in Tamil Nadu.

The remaining towns serve as taluk headquarters, with Krishnagiri and Kallakuruchi serving as district headquarters. To access train services to Chennai and other large cities, residents from these areas must travel 25 to 35 kilometres to major stations.

The study will also cover Yanam town in Andhra Pradesh's Puducherry Union Territory. In order to connect 80 towns with a population of more than 50,000 people in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and a few other states and union territories with train service, the railway board decided to conduct the study.

The 2011 census was used to determine the population.

The railway board stated in its directive sent to railway zones, including Southern Railway, that PM GatiShakti NMP Portal (BISAG - Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo- informatics) has identified towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants that do not have train facilities within a 5-km radius.

A preliminary engineering and traffic survey will soon be carried out in preparation for laying new lines. Since before independence, engineering studies for installing new lines have been conducted. According to the board's instructions, we will determine if new lines are necessary or whether additional stations may be added to existing lines, an official stated.

The main reason that major towns are not connected by railway lines is because of topographical and geographic challenges. The potential for freight and passenger traffic, the classification of the property, and the project's rate of return will all be covered by the traffic survey, according to sources.