Tambaram-Chengai fourth line planned on east side to overcome land issues

CHENNAI: The state government and Southern Railway have decided to lay the 30.2km fourth railway line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu on the eastern side (along GST Road) of the existing three lines, instead of the western side as originally planned in 2015. According to official sources, the change in alignment was driven by challenges related to land acquisition, interference from pillars of road overbridges and other site constraints that could delay the project. At present, the railways and the state government have secured a portion of land on the eastern side near GST Road. Additional parcels will still need to be acquired at several locations. However, laying the line on the western side would likely lead to major bottlenecks, an official said. Meanwhile, hundreds of residents living on the western side of the Tambaram-Chengalpattu line heaved a sigh of relief. Officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told the TNIE that the width of the existing GST Road carriageway would remain unaffected since the new track would be constructed within the available railway land. The Railway Board had accorded in-principle approval for the third and fourth lines between Tambaram and Chengalpattu in 2010. The Southern Railway began work on the third line in 2015 at a cost of Rs 260 crore and completed it in 2022. Sources said that even after receiving clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety in 2022, the Chennai Division could not immediately begin operations as the third track was located very close to the road overbridge pillars between Vandalur and Urapakkam. Following multiple inspections, the section has now been opened for traffic. A section of rail passengers has urged that the fourth line project be handed over to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for faster execution. The construction wing of Southern Railway took nearly nine years to complete 90 km of doubling works between Villupuram and Dindigul. In contrast, RVNL completed the Madurai-Vanchi Maniyachchi-Thoothukudi (160km) and Vanchi Maniyachchi-Tirunelveli-Nagercoil (102 km) projects within four years despite major land acquisition hurdles. RVNL follows a faster approval system and executes projects in a time-bound manner, similar to leading international firms, said R Pandiaraja, former member of the Zonal Rail Users Consultative Committee. Pandiaraja added that if the railways had planned the location of the fourth line properly while laying the third line, it could have saved several crores of rupees that were later spent on constructing minor bridges and culverts. It can be recalled that during the execution of the third line project in 2015-2022, the construction wing of the Southern Railway had built culverts, minor bridges, and other infrastructure anticipating the fourth line. The Railway Ministry recently approved the fourth-line project between Tambaram and Chengalpattu at an estimated cost of `757.18 crore. The line capacity utilisation of the section currently stands at 87% and is projected to increase to 136% once the project is completed. The Tambaram-Chengalpattu stretch, part of the Chennai Beach-Villupuram mainline, now has three lines that carry a mix of suburban, express, and freight trains. Owing to the heavy traffic, the section experiences frequent congestion, affecting both punctuality and capacity expansion.