Chennai: In Tamil Nadu, work on the mega broad gauge rail doubling project costing 2,168 crore rupees has been resumed from the Virudhunagar end. The project is expected to create a quantum jump in rail traffic in the southern districts of Tamilnadu. The work had been stopped for almost five months now, following lock down measures imposed in the country following the Covid 19 pandemic.
The project involves doubling of railway lines south of Madurai in two phases. The first phase consists of a distance of 159 kms from Madurai to the picturesque Vanchi Maniyachi junction. The line to the port town of Thuthukudi branches off here. The second phase consists of doubling works to a distance of 102 kms from Vanchi Maniyachi to Nagercoil, the southern town close to Kanyakumari and the Kerala border.
Railway officials in charge of the doubling works have indicated that the work is progressing as per plan and that they expect it to be completed within the time and budget limits. The project was started in 2018 with the aim of completing doubling works within a period of three years.