Parliament Question: Doubling of Railway Line between Madurai and Sengottai

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1721 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2026 DOUBLING OF RAILWAY LINE BETWEEN MADURAI AND SENGOTTAI 1721 SHRI I.S. INBADURAI: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether a detailed survey or feasibility study has been conducted for doubling the railway line between Madurai and Sengottai, if so, the present status thereof; (b) the traffic density, passenger demand and freight potential on the Madurai–Sengottai section and whether these justify early approval of the doubling project; (c) the estimated project cost, land acquisition requirements and timeline proposed for completion of the doubling work once sanctioned; and (d) explain the benefits expected from the doubling of this line in terms of reduced travel time, improved safety, enhanced connectivity for southern Tamil Nadu and regional economic development? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): Madurai and Sengottai are connected through two rail routes. The first route is via Virudunagar–Rajapalayam–Tenkasi, wherein the section from Madurai to Virudunagar is a double line, while the section from Virudunagar to Rajapalayam–Tenkasi–Sengottai is a single line. The line capacity utilisation of single line section is about 65%. The second route is via Virudunagar–Tirunelveli–Tenkasi. On this route, the section from Madurai to Tirunelveli is a double line section and Tirunelveli - Tenkasi–Sengottai is a single line. The line capacity utilisation on this route is about 42%. Sanctioning of Railway projects is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railways. Sanctioning of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project  Connection of missing links and providing additional route  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines ...2/- §-2-  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives  Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Tamil Nadu 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) 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 Total Length Length Expenditure sanctioned (in km) Commissioned upto Mar’ 25 projects upto Mar’25 (₹ in Cr.) (in km) 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. Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as under : S.N Cost Project . (₹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 ...3/- §-3- 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 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu which have been taken up are as under : Cost S.N Project (₹ 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 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 2,501 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu. 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. ...4/- §-4- Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- SN Name of the project Total land Land Balance required acquired Land to be (in ha) (in ha) acquired (in ha) 1. Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line 2 7 6 33 243 (71 km) 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 – 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. Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:  Land acquisition by State Government  Forest clearance  Shifting of infringing utilities  Statutory clearances from various authorities  Geological and topographical conditions of area  Law and order situation in the area of project site  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. ***** §