Parliament Question: Doubling of Villupuram–Pondicherry Railway Track

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5500 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 DOUBLING OF VILLUPURAM-PONDICHERRY RAILWAY TRACK 5500. DR. D RAVI KUMAR: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the demand for a double line on the Villupuram– Pondicherry railway track to improve train capacity, reduce congestion and ensure faster and safer operations and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether any survey, Detailed Project Report (DPR) or feasibility study has been undertaken for this project during the last three years and if so, the details and findings thereof; (c) whether funds have been allocated or sanctioned for construction, electrification and related works on this route and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the details of the expected timeframe for approval, commencement and completion of the Villupuram–Pondicherry double line railway project? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): Presently, Villupuram–Puducherry section is being served by 9 pairs of trains. At present, the section has adequate line capacity to meet the current traffic. To further improve the connectivity in the region, Final Location Survey (FLS) for New Line between Tindivanam and Cuddalore via Puducherry has been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR). § Page 1 of 6After preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed. Tamil Nadu:- Railway Budget:- 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 Total Length Expenditure sanctioned Length Commissioned upto Mar’ 25 projects (in km) upto Mar’25 (₹ in Cr.) (in km) New Line 9 812 24 1,337 Gauge Conversion 3 748 604 3,471 Doubling 3 140 37 2,783 /Multitracking 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. Page 2 of 6Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are as under : S. Cost Project N. (₹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 1,122 (357 km) 5 Mayiladuturai - Thiruvarur - Karaikkudi gauge 1,338 conversion (187 km) 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 doubling (29 km) 327 15 Chengalpattu - Villupuram and Tambaram- 1,122 Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) 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 18 (1 km) Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu which have been taken up are as under : Page 3 of 6Cost 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 7 4 2 (43 km) 4 Thiruvananthapuram - Kanyakumari doubling 3,785 (87 km) 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 4th Line (30 km) 757 9 Attipattu - Gummidipundi 3rd & 4th line 3 7 5 (23 km) 10 Tirupati-Pakala-Katpadi doubling (105 km) 1,332 11 Tindivanam - Gingee -Tiruvannamalai new 1,400 line (71 km) 12 Atipattu – Puttur new line (88 km) 1,700 13 Chennai – Cuddulore via Mahabalipuram new 2,670 line (179 km) 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 Balance land acquired Land to be required (in ha) acquired (in ha) (in ha) 1. Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new 276 33 243 Page 4 of 6line (71 km) 2. Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km) 189 0 189 3. Morappur-Dharmapuri new line 92 45 47 (36 km) 4. Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line 196 0 196 (41 km) 5. Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line 152 0 152 (52 km) Further, Rameswaram – 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. Sanction 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  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives  Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:  Land acquisition by State Government Page 5 of 6 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. 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 including existing single line in section of Villupuram – Pondicherry. Further, all new line / multitracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. ***** Page 6 of 6