Parliament Question: Namakkal–Ariyalur Rail Connectivity

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 549 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 NAMAKKAL–ARIYALUR RAIL CONNECTIVITY 549. THIRU ARUN NEHRU: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has assessed the economic and connectivity benefits of the proposed Namakkal–Ariyalur via Perambalur new railway line for the Perambalur Lok Sabha Constituency and the region; (b) if so, the details of the projected benefits in terms of passenger traffic, freight movement, industrial development and reduction in travel time to the nearest railway station (currently ~30 km away in Ariyalur); and (c) whether the priority accorded to this project in the overall rail infrastructure development plan for Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): Perambalur is about 30 Km away from Ariyalur Railway station which serves as the transportation hub for the nearby regions. Further, to provide direct connectivity to Perambalur, a survey for Namakkal-Ariyalur new line via Perambalur (116 km) has been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR). § Page 1 of 7After 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. Railway Budget:- Budget allocation in 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 2026-27 ₹ 7,611 crore (more than 8 times) Track Construction: The details of constructing new track falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are as under: Period New track Commissioned 2009-14 923 Km 2014-26 1,356 Km Projects sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2026, 19 projects (08 new line, 03 gauge conversion and 08 doubling) of total length of 1,874 km, costing ₹27,282 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu have been sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Page 2 of 7Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. upto projects Length Commissioned March, 2026 (in km) upto March, 2026 (₹ in Cr.) (in Km) New Line 8 811 24 1,514 Gauge 3 748 631 3,605 Conversion Doubling 8 314 54 3,693 /Multitracking Total 19 1,874 709 8,811 Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are as under:- S.N. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul- Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km) 610 2 Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km) 350 3 Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km) 400 4 Quilon- Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km) 1,122 5 Mayiladuturai - Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 km) 1,338 6 Madurai-Bodiyakannur gauge conversion (90 km) 593 7 Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km) 670 8 Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km) 83 9 Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km) 370 10 Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km) 2,000 11 Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km) 293 12 Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km) 327 13 Chengalpattu - Villupuram and Tambaram - 1,122 Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) 14 Salem- Omalur doubling (11 km) 115 15 Madurai- Tuticorin doubling (160 km) 1,891 Page 3 of 7S.N. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 16 Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km) 1,752 17 Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km) 272 Ongoing Projects:- 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 Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 4,494 4 Irugur-Podanur doubling (11 km) 277 5 Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4th line (30 km) 757 6 Attipattu-Gummidipundi 3rd & 4th line (23 km) 365 7 Tirupati- Katpadi doubling (105 km) 1,216 8 Tindivanam- Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) 1,400 9 Atipattu – Puttur new line (88 km) 1,700 10 Chennai – Cuddulore new line (179 km) 2,670 11 Baiyapannahalli to Hosur doubling (48 km) 1,160 12 Arakkonam-Chengalpattu doubling (68 km) 993 13 Erode- Karur doubling (67 km) 986 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 4,612 ha Land Acquired 1,178 ha (26%) Balance Land to be acquired 3,434 ha (74%) Page 4 of 7Support 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 276 33 243 new line (71 km) 2. Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km) 189 0 189 3. Morappur-Dharmapuri new line 93 47 46 (36 km) 4. Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new 204 0 204 line (41 km) 5. Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line 152 0 152 (52 km) 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. Sanction of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route Page 5 of 7 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 Railway Infrastructure projects enable socio-economic development of the region including:  Better integration of the region with other parts of the country  Faster movement of goods and services  Improving logistics efficiency  Enhance line capacity  Increase in direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people of the region  Reduces operational bottlenecks  Development of tourism industry and increase in industrial activities in the region. 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 Page 6 of 7 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. ***** Page 7 of 7