We, the General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Members of Parliament belonging to the AIADMK Party, submit this memorandum requesting the Hon’ble Railway Minister to sanction the following new Railway Projects for Tamil Nadu and also to allocate sufficient funds for early completion of the existing on-going Railway Projects in the State of Tamil Nadu, and for their inclusion in the forthcoming Railway Budget for the year 2010-2011.

          Tamil Nadu is in the southern corner of the country. In marketing terms, it is far away from the consuming markets. Hence, more than any other State, Tamil Nadu essentially requires a very well knit Transport Infrastructure, in the first place.

If we consider the freight infrastructure, it is sad to note that the Central Government has not given a freight corridor to Chennai so far. In the case of major infrastructural projects, Tamil Nadu has been completely sidelined and denied any new project.

Considering all this, at the very least, the Railway Infrastructure within the State needs to be improved on a war-footing; and hence, we place the following for your urgent consideration, for inclusion in this year’s Railway Budget.

(1)                         DOUBLING:

Chennai-Madurai Railway line is the lifeline of the State; 80% of that line is single-track even now. Work has been taken up for doubling between Chingleput and Villupuram. We do not know when the entire line would get doubled. The doubling of the track between Villupuram and Dindugal was sanctioned in the Railway Budget two years ago at an initial estimated cost of Rs. 800 crore, but the work has not yet been taken up so far. We want the Railway Ministry to take up that work immediately without any further delay. We request that it be completed within the next two years, with allocation of sufficient funds.

(2)                         ELECTRIFICATION:

Electrification project within the State is going on at a snail’s pace. Electrification has been completed only up to Trichy so far. We would like to remind you that the Railway Ministry had sanctioned and approved work regarding electrification up to Kanyakumari, two years ago. Hence, we request that sufficient funds may be allocated for electrification for Trichy-Madurai, Madurai-Kanyakumari and Madurai-Tuticorin rail tracks.

(3)                         GAUGE CONVERSION:

We request the Railway Ministry to sanction more money for gauge conversion. The gauge conversion work between Coimbatore-Dindugal via Palani, has been going on for the last three years. At the present rate of flow of funds, it will take another ten years to complete this project. This railway link is very important since it connects two major cities in the State, viz. Coimbatore and Madurai. This line is another lifeline of the State. We request that this project may be completed within the next one year with sufficient allocation of funds. 

(4)                         COASTAL RAILWAY LINE:

There is a growing need for sanction of another new Coastal Railway line between Chennai and Puducherry via Mamallapuram. This project has been sanctioned already, but the work has not yet started. We request the Railway Ministry to sanction adequate funds so that this project is started immediately and completed within a specific time-frame.

(5)                         NEW PROJECTS:

Five Railway line projects have been sanctioned by the Railway Board a few years ago. But the Planning Commission has not given its clearance on the ground that the State Government of Tamil Nadu should bear 50% of the cost. Those Railway lines are:

(i) Ariyalur-Tanjore;

(ii) Dindugal-Kumuzhi;

(iii) Dharmapuri-Morappur;

(iv) Needamangalam-Mannargudi;

(v) Thiruvannamalai-Jolarpettai; and

(vi) Thanjavur-Pudukottai via. Kandarvakottai.

          The State Government of Tamil Nadu should be pressured to agree to bear 50% of the cost of these projects. We request that sanction should be given for these five new Railway line projects soon.

          Along with this, we request the Ministry to sanction another Railway Line between Avadi-Sriperumbudur.     

(6)                         FEASIBILITY STUDY:

Presently, a feasibility study for a freight corridor between Bengaluru and Chennai has been commissioned, which will go a long way in benefiting Tamil Nadu. In this connection, we would like to request that another feasibility study should be conducted for a freight corridor between Chennai and Coimbatore, along with the present Chennai-Bengaluru feasibility study.

We further request that a separate freight corridor may be sanctioned between Chennai-Mumbai and Chennai-Kolkata.

(7)                         MRTS, CHENNAI:

The MRTS in Chennai has so far been covered only up to Velacherry. This project was sanctioned 30 years ago, and still it has not seen the end of the tunnel, with paltry allocations in every Railway Budget. It was supposed to go up to St. Thomas Mount. So far, 80% of the work has been completed and another 20% of work remains to be completed in this project. We request that it should be completed this year with more allocation of funds.

(8)                         NEW SUBURBAN RAILWAYS:

Considering the importance of Tamil Nadu with two major upcoming cities viz., Coimbatore and Madurai, there is a need for introduction of suburban railway trains in these two cities, connecting the following places:

(vii) Coimbatore-Erode;

(viii) Coimbatore- Pollachi;

(ix)  Madurai-Virudhunagar; and

(x) Madurai-Dindugal.

The sanctioning of these Suburban Railway Projects will ease the congestion that these two cities are experiencing so far and it will generate more revenue for the Railways, besides helping the people in those cities.

 Yours sincerely,
J JAYALALITHAA