Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Rly. Ministry sanctions fourth line between Pattabiram, Tiruvallur

By S.Vydhianathan

CHENNAI Feb. 7. With the Railway Ministry sanctioning a fourth line between Pattabiram and Tiruvallur, a long-pending demand of the commuters is to be fulfilled.

Despite a phenomenal increase in traffic on the Chennai-Arakkonam section, dedicated lines for suburban section are available only between Chennai and Pattabiram. While there are three lines from Pattabiram to Tiruvallur, only two lines exist from Tiruvallur to Arakkonam.

In the absence of dedicated lines for EMU services, the administration finds it difficult to balance between main line and suburban traffic. Despite many representations from the travelling public and the demand by the State Government, the project was not sanctioned, on the plea of funds constraint.

Thanks to persistent pressures from various quarters, the Railway Ministry has now sanctioned a fourth line from Pattabiram to Tiruvallur. The total cost of the project, having a length of 16.7 km would be Rs 28 crores. As enough land is available for laying the new track, railway officials are hopeful of completing the project within a year.

The completion of the fourth line would provide dedicated lines for EMU services between Chennai and Tiruvallur, which would help free flow of main line trains, goods services and EMUs. However, only by sanctioning two more lines between Tiruvallur and Arakkonam, both suburban and main line traffic could be independently operated. The work will be formally inaugurated by the Minister of State for Railways, A.K.Moorthy at Pattabiram on Saturday.

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