CHENNAI: The Centre on Wednesday approved three major railway capacity-enhancement projects in Tamil Nadu — Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth lines, Hosur-Omalur doubling, and Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling — as part of five multitracking projects across four states.The three projects in Tamil Nadu will together cover 383 km and are part of a package worth Rs 10,021 crore, which will add about 540 km to the railway network in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.The 77km Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth line, 147km Hosur-Omalur doubling and 159km Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling are expected to improve rail capacity, ease congestion and enhance operational efficiency and service reliability.The five projects will cover 17 districts and improve connectivity to about 2,121 villages with a population of around 52 lakh.The projects are planned for completion by 2029-30 under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. They are expected to facilitate movement of freight commodities including coal, cement, iron and steel, containers, automobiles, foodgrains, petroleum products and fertilisers.The capacity augmentation is expected to enable an additional 47 million tonne per annum of freight traffic, while reducing oil imports by about eight crore litres and CO2 emissions by around 42 crore kg, according to the Centre.
