Parliament Question: Tiruchirappalli–Karur–Salem Railway Line and Karur–Erode Railway Line - 12th August 2026 - Ministry of Railways - Gazette Notification PDF

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4045 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 TIRUCHIRAPPALLI–KARUR–SALEM RAILWAY LINE AND KARUR–ERODE RAILWAY LINE 4045. SHRI DURAI VAIKO: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for doubling of the Tiruchirappalli–Karur– Salem Railway Line and Karur–Erode Railway Line have been completed; (b) if so, the details thereof including the present status of these doubling projects; (c) whether the Government proposes to accord administrative sanction and allocate the necessary funds for the implementation of the said projects; and (d) if so, the details thereof including the likely timeline for according administrative sanction, allocation of funds and commencement of the doubling works? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): To augment the capacity, doubling of Erode – Karur (67 Km) has been sanctioned recently at a cost of ₹986 crore. Further, to improve the connectivity, Final Location Survey (FLS) of Salem – Karur – Dindigul doubling (159 Km) and Tiruchchirappalli-Karur doubling (76 Km) have been completed and Detailed Project Reports (DPR) have been prepared. After firming up of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State § Page 1 of 6Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines depend upon appraisals and approvals by various stakeholders. Tamil Nadu:- 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:- Category 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 Page 2 of 6Gauge 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-Bodinayakkanur 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 16 Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km) 1,752 17 Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km) 272 Page 3 of 6Ongoing 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 Baiyapannahalli to Hosur doubling (48 km) 1,160 11 Arakkonam-Chengalpattu doubling (68 km) 993 12 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%) Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition. Page 4 of 6Details 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  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 Page 5 of 6 Overall availability of funds 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. ***** Page 6 of 6