Survey begins for doubling of tracks on the route between Arakkonam and Chengalpattu

The Hindu

a day ago

:
In a major development for rail users taking the Kancheepuram and Thirumalpur route, the Southern Railway has begun a survey for doubling the tracks from Chengalpattu to Arakkonam via Takkolam.
The track doubling will help ease rail traffic, and create a dedicated corridor for operating direct suburban train services from Arakkonam to Chengalpattu, avoiding the need for circular route via Beach.
M. Senthamil Selvan, Chief Public Relations officer of Southern Railway, said the Final Location Survey (FLS) for the project had been approved for the Chengalpattu-Arakkonam corridor via Kancheepuram and Thirumalpur. A branching track has been planned to link Palur-Paranur bypass. At present, the Chengalpattu to Arakkonam route, has only one track with nine railway stations.
Some stations are Reddipalayam, Villiambakkam, Palur, Palayasivaram, Walajabad, Nathapettai, Old Kancheepuram and Kancheepuram.
Kancheepuram junction serves as the freight hub for transporting not only industrial finished goods from Walajabad, but also agricultural and food materials.
The suburban train services operated by the Chennai Division from Beach to Chengalpattu via Tambaram, which includes the Thirumalpur section, sees a patronage of more than 10 lakh people every day, with over one lakh commuters travelling to Thirumalpur.
For several years, the residents in Kancheepuram have been requesting for doubling the tracks, at least from Thirumalpur to Chengalpattu, to create a dedicated suburban train corridor to Beach.
J. Ranganathan, office bearer of the Chennai-Kanchi Rail Users Association, said thousands of office-goers and traders bound for Chennai opt for the cheap suburban services, but the lack of services from Kancheepuram to Chennai Beach makes it a daily struggle. Normally, a few train services, which are operated to Chengalpattu, are extended to Thirumalpur via Kancheepuram on the single track.
Commuters in Kancheepuram have been seeking the doubling of tracks for a long time as that would help thousands of workers from as far as Tiruvallur, Arakkonam and Tiruttani to have direct train facilities to Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu, instead of the time-consuming circular route that is now being operated, he added.
D. Kishore Kumar, a member of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), had highlighted the issue in a recent meeting with senior railway officials of the Chennai Division. He had stressed the need to upgrade Kancheepuram to a suburban category in the light of the municipality being made a Corporation and increasing migration from Chennai. This section was the only one left out in the region under the Chennai division, though it has been fetching high freight and passenger revenue. Mr. Kumar said track doubling project had become pertinent for operating freight trains because of the presence of automobile hub at Walajabad and the goods shed in Kancheepuram.
The Southern Railway has a line capacity utilisation of 105%, and this is projected to increase by 119% in 2025.
The Southern Railway, having converted all meter gauge tracks to broad gauge by 2010, converted the meter gauge of the Arakkonam-Chengalpattu section to broad gauge in 2019, after several years of delay due to land acquisition issues. The broad gauge line was commissioned in January 2019, creating a direct track link from Chengalpattu to Arakkonam.
The Southern Railway, having converted all meter gauge tracks to broad gauge by 2010, converted the meter gauge of the Arakkonam-Chengalpattu section to broad gauge in 2019, after several years of delay due to land acquisition issues. The broad gauge line was commissioned in January 2019, creating a direct track link from Chengalpattu to Arakkonam.