Indian Railways Recently Completes Key Infrastructure Projects Spanning Over 1,700 km in Tamil Nadu to Strengthen Rail Connectivity

295 Train Stoppages Provided and 52 New Services Including 16 Vande Bharat and 12 Amrit Bharat Introduced in Tamil Nadu in the Last 5 Years to Enhance Passenger Convenience Redevelopment of 20 Stations Including Chidambaram, Karaikkudi Jn., Pollachi Jn., Srirangam and Tiruvannamalai Completed Out of 77 Identified Under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Tamil Nadu Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is Needed to Expedite the Land Acquisition & Complete the Pending Projects: Union Railway Minister Posted On: 13 MAR 2026 7:43PM by PIB Delhi Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹879 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 6,626 crore (more than 7.5 times) Project sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2025, 15 projects (09 new line, 03 gauge conversion and 03 doubling) of 1,700 km length, costing ₹22,808 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of sanctioned projects Total Length (in km) Length Commissioned upto Mar’25 (in km) Expenditure upto Mar’ 25 ( ₹ in Cr.) New Line 9 812 24 1,337 Gauge Conversion 3 748 604 3,471 Doubling /Multitracking 3 140 37 2,783 Total 15 1,700 665 7,591 Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as under : S.N. Project Cost (₹in Crores) 1 Dindigul-Palani-Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km) 610 2 Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km) 350 3 Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km) 400 4 Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km) 1,122 5 Mayiladuturai-Thiruvarur-Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 km) 1,338 6 Madurai-Bodiyakannur gauge conversion (90 km) 593 7 Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km) 670 8 Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km) 83 9 Chennai Central-Basin Bridge doubling (2 km) 31 10 Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km) 370 11 Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km) 2,000 12 Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km) 168 13 Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km) 293 14 Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km) 327 15 Chengalpattu-Villupuram and Tambaram-Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) 1,122 16 Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur doubling (11 km) 115 17 Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin doubling (160 km) 1,891 18 Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km) 1,752 19 Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km) 272 20 Karaikal-Peralam new line (23 km) 373 21 Northern End Port connectivity to Karaikal Port (1 km) 18 Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu which have been taken up are as under: S.N Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Tindivanam-Nagari new line (184 km) 3,631 2 Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km) 359 3 Nagapattinam-Tiruturaipundi new line (43 km) 742 4 Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 3,785 5 Arakkonam yard 3rd & 4th line (6 km) 98 6 Perambur - Ambattur 5th & 6th lines (6 Km) 178 7 Irugur-Podanur doubling (11 Km) 277 8 Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4 th Line (30 km) 757 9 Attipattu-Gummidipundi 3 rd & 4 th line (23 km) 375 10 Tirupati-Pakala-Katpadi doubling (105 km) 1332 11 Tindivanam-Gingee-Tiruvannamalai New Line (71 Km) 1400 12 Atipattu &ndash; Puttur New Line (88 Km) 1700 13 Chennai &ndash; Cuddulore via Mahabalipuram New Line (179 Km) 2670 Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under: Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu 4,326 ha Land Acquired 1,052 ha (24%) Balance Land to be acquired 3,274 ha (76%) Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition. Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- SN Name of the project Total land required (in ha) Land acquired (in ha) Balance Land to be acquired (in ha) 1. Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) 276 33 243 2. Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km) 189 0 189 3. Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km) 92 45 47 4. Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line (41 km) 196 0 196 5. Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line (52 km) 152 0 152 Further, Rameshwaram &ndash; Dhanushkodi new line (18 km) was sanctioned at a cost of ₹734 Cr. The Foundation Stone of the project was laid on 01.03.2019. However, the project could not be started because the land acquisition has not been undertaken by the State Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu. In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 29 surveys (06 new line and 23 doubling) covering a total length of 2,478 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu. Rameswaram is already connected to Kanniyakumari with existing railway network via Virudhanagar, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil. The Kulasekharapatnam Light Railway (private narrow gauge railway), in Tisayanvilai-Kulasekharapatnam-Tiruchendur (43 km) section, had been operational till 1940 on private land. Thereafter, it was closed. Railway Electrification: Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:- Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 In Tamil Nadu, 97% of BG network has been electrified and electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Trains Stoppage: Proposals/ requests/ suggestions/ representations, both formal and informal inter alia for introduction/provision of stoppage of trains are received from Members of Parliament, elected representatives, organizations/rail users etc. at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Divisional Office etc. As receipt of such proposals/ requests/suggestions is a continuous and dynamic process, centralized compendium of such requests is not maintained. However, these are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time, which is an on-going process. Further, as the Railway network straddles across State/district boundaries, trains are operated, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, to facilitate the passengers of Tamil Nadu, during the period 01.04.2021 to 28.02.2026, 295 stoppages have been provided and following 52 new train services (including 16 Vande Bharat train services and 12 Amrit Bharat) have been introduced on orignating/terminating basis: Sl. Train No. and Name 1 20609/20610 Tiruchchirappalli - New Jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express 2 16121/16122 Tambaram - Trivandrum central Amrit Bharat Express <p style="margin-right:0.2pt; text-