Chamber for BG line to Kottayam soon

The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sought early implementation of the Madurai-Kottayam broad gauge line.

In a memorandum submitted to the Union Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, its president S. Rethinalvelu said that the line would enhance freight traffic and trade between Tamil Nadu and Kerala and boost earnings for the railways.

The proposed line would also link the Tuticorin harbour with Kochi port.

The chamber had conducted a survey on the project and submitted its findings to the Chief Operations Manager (Survey and Construction), Southern Railway.

The need for opening a computerised reservation centre on the eastern parts of Madurai, expediting the construction of road overbridges at Ellis Nagar, Sellur and Koodal Nagar and introduction of escalator facility at Madurai railway station were emphasised.

The chamber urged the Railway Minister to speed up the Madurai-Dindigul broad gauge doubling work, as it would enable introduction of new trains.

Adequate funds should be allocated to the project since the utilisation of the existing single BG line had crossed 140 per cent.

Source: The Hindu