With single railway lines nearing saturation and the need for new lines rising, the railway board has approved to conduct a traffic and location survey for doubling of 385 km of single lines in three routes. Recently, the construction wing of the Southern Railway started the final location survey for placing the second line in Katpadi-Vellore-Tiruvannamalai-Villupuram (160.10 km), Erode-Karur (65 km) and Salem-Karur-Dindigul (160 km) sections. The funds were allotted by the railway board in the budget. The final survey entails evaluating the tentative route along with the quantum of land needed for the project. A senior railway official told the media that during the preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey conducted a few years ago, the classification of land and rate of return, freight and passenger traffic potential for the project had been examined. A final report will be sent to the board for permission. Additionally, the zonal railway took up an updated survey for a new line between Ariyalur and Namakkal via Perambalur, Turaiyur and Tatiya Nagar Pettai (108 km). Presently, the Chennai Egmore-Madurai (496 km) and Chennai Central-Coimbatore (497 km) chord lines render connectivity from the capital city to southern and western districts. Both these segments are electrified double lines. The two-chord lines are joined via single lines expediting transport facilities for the en-route districts. The lines are Katpadi-Villupuram, Erode-Karur-Dindigul, Arakkonam-Kanchipuram-Chengalpattu, Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Trichy, Salem-Attur-Virudhachalam and Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Dindigul. The board nods projects considering several factors like track utilisation, land cost, demand and rate of return. It would be early to predict if these projects will get approved instantly. Former member of Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), Southern Railway, G Elangkavi, told the media that the western region has been deprived of train connectivity for many years and the new line works between Erode and Palani has remained a non-starter for decades. The railways must contemplate doubling these lines at the earliest. Image Source