Thursday, October 06, 2005

More details on Cuddalore - Chennai rail project

I have posted earlier( Cuddalore - Pondicherry connection ) about the proposal of connecting Chennai and Cuddalore through rail.I could not confirm by the time I posted it.But I have confirmed it now.New information is that Southern Railways will submit the proposal to Railway Board by October end.

If the project is cleared, a line will be laid from Chennai to Cuddalore through Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry.This is a healthy proposal as against the earlier one which had plans to connect Pondicherry through Thindivanam. If connected through Thindivanam it would increase the travelling time.

The first survey seems to have been conducted in 2002 to assess the rate of return from operations on the Chennai-Mahabalipuram section, and the second in 2004 to calculate the returns on the Cuddalore-Pondicherry-Tindivanam stretch. Both showed a negative trend. For railways to start operations, there has to be a minimum 14 per cent return.

The findings of two earlier surveys on the project's viability are being updated considering the development activities along the ECR.

The proposed new rail is to flow through Sedarapet and Thatanchavady industrial estates inside Pondicherry and the route thereafter is not yet planned I think.Making a path from Pondicherry into the Cuddalore must be the biggest challange of the project,as it would be necessary to clear some of the heavily congested residential areas in Cuddalore.

Let us hope that the project will take a right shape at the earliest.

Also see

Chennai-Pondicherry rail ? NO it must be Chennai-Cuddalore

1 comment:

Jean-Claude said...

Hi Kathikeyan,lets hope this too will happen in near future.

Happy Blogging!!