Electrification of 17 Southern Railway routes to be completed by September 2022

MADURAI: The ongoing electrification of 17 routes in Southern Railway covering 1,035 kms, carried out by the Central Organization Railway Electrification (CORE), have been targeted for completion in a phased manner from this month to September 2022.
It includes completion of the electrification on 13 routes covering 607 kms this year and the four other routes covering 428 kms by 2022.
CORE has given this response to RTI queries filed by activist R Pandiaraja. Electrification works targeted for completion this year includes the 13 km Nidamangalam-Mannargadu section, 46 km Madurai-Manamadurai Junction section and the 57 km Cuddalore Port-Vriddhachalam section by February, the 71 km Talaivasal-Salem section, 38 km Pollachi-Podanur section and 53 km Tiruchirappalli Junction-Pudukottai section by April.
The 10km Nagapattinam-Velankanni section has been targeted for completion by May, 59 km Manamadurai-Ramanathapuram section and the 62km Vriddhachalam-Talaivasal section by June. The 37 km Ramanathapuram-Mandapam section and 37 km Pudukottai-Karaikudi Junction section is aimed to be completed by August, the 63 km Karaikudi Junction-Manamadurai section by October and the 61 km Manamadurai-Virudhunagar Junction section will be operational by December.
The four electrification works targeted for completion by 2022 include the 179 Dindigul-Palakkad section and the 61km Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur section by March, the 66 km Shoranur-Nilambur section by June and the 122 km Virudhunagar-Tenkasi section by September.
The activist said the completion of a few electrification works is delayed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. “Speedy completion will not only reduce pollution but also reduce the time taken for long distance trains such as Pothigai, Silambu, Kollam Mail and the Chenthur that are connecting the southern districts by 30 to 60 minutes,” he added.
Pandiaraja also said the electrification would also facilitate running of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains from Tirunelveli to Tenkasi, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari.