Lok Sabha Question No. 694 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: New Railway Line between Erode- Namakkal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri K E Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 694 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## NEW RAILWAY LINE BETWEEN ERODE- NAMAKKAL

## 694. SHRI K E PRAKASH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  considered  or  proposes  to  undertake  a new railway line project connecting Erode and Namakkal in view of the potential to improve connectivity for Kumarapalayam (which falls under the Erode Parliamentary Constituency) and nearby regions and if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) whether the Government is aware that the existing Erode-Chennai rail route  is  highly  congested  and  if  so,  whether  an  alternative  ErodeNamakkal-Chennai  corridor  has  been  examined  to  ease  traffic  and improve passenger convenience?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) and (b):  Kumarapalayam  is about 15 km away from the Erode Jn which serves  as  the  transportation  hub  for  the  nearby  regions.  Erode  and Namakkal  are  already  connected  through  existing  railway  network  via Karur Jn and also via Salem Jn. To improve connectivity on existing ErodeChennai route following doubling/multitracking surveys have been taken up:

|   S. N. | Project                                                        |   Length (in Kms) |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|
|       1 | Karur - Salem doubling (part of Dindigul-Karur-Salem doubling) |                85 |

|   2 | Erode-Karur doubling                            |   67 |
|-----|-------------------------------------------------|------|
|   3 | Erode -Jollarpettai 3 rd & 4 th line            |  120 |
|   4 | Jollarpettai-Katpadi-Arakkonam 3 rd & 4 th line |  145 |

## Tamil Nadu

Budget allocation  in  the  recent  years  has  increased  significantly.  Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                              |
|----------|-------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹879 crore/year                     |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 6,626 crore (more than 7.5 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  15  projects  (09  new  line,  03  gauge  conversion  and  03 doubling) of 1,700 km length, costing ₹22,808 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned.  The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of sanctioned projects | Total Length (in km)   |   Length Commissioned upto Mar'25 (in km) | Expenditure upto Mar' 25 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                            9 | 812                    |                                        24 | 1,337                                 |
| Gauge Conversion        |                            3 | 748                    |                                       604 | 3,471                                 |
| Doubling /Multitracking |                            3 | 140                    |                                        37 | 2,783                                 |
| Total                   |                           15 | 1,700                  |                                       665 | 7,591                                 |

Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Tamil

...3/-

## Nadu are as under :

|   S. N. | Project                                                                 | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Dindigal-Palani-Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km)                      | 610                 |
|       2 | Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km)                               | 350                 |
|       3 | Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km)                              | 400                 |
|       4 | Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km)                | 1,122               |
|       5 | Mayiladuturai - Thiruvarur - Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 km)       | 1,338               |
|       6 | Madurai-Bodiyakannur gauge conversion (90 km)                           | 593                 |
|       7 | Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km)                               | 670                 |
|       8 | Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km)                                   | 83                  |
|       9 | Chennai Central-Basin Bridge doubling (2 km)                            | 31                  |
|      10 | Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km)                                     | 370                 |
|      11 | Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km)                                   | 2,000               |
|      12 | Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km)                                | 168                 |
|      13 | Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km)                                | 293                 |
|      14 | Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km)                                 | 327                 |
|      15 | Chengalpattu - Villupuram and Tambaram - Chengalpattu-3rd line (133 km) | 1,122               |
|      16 | Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur doubling (11 km)                        | 115                 |
|      17 | Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin doubling (160 km)                          | 1,891               |
|      18 | Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km)                                   | 1,752               |
|      19 | Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km)                            | 272                 |
|      20 | Karaikal-Peralam new line (23 km)                                       | 373                 |
|      21 | Northern End Port connectivity to Karaikal Port (1 km)                  | 18                  |

Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu which have been taken up are as under :

|   S.N | Project                             | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|-------|-------------------------------------|----------------------|
|     1 | Tindivanam-Nagari new line (184 km) | 3,631                |

|   2 | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km)                          | 359   |
|-----|---------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
|   3 | Nagapattinam-Tiruturaipundi new line (43 km)                  | 742   |
|   4 | Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km)                       | 3,785 |
|   5 | Arakkonam yard 3rd & 4th line (6 km)                          | 98    |
|   6 | Perambur and Ambattur stations 5th & 6th lines project (6 Km) | 178   |

In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 29 surveys (06 new line and 23 doubling) covering a total length of 2,501 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu.

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 4,326 ha       |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 1,052 ha (24%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 3,274 ha (76%) |

Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | Name of the project                          |   Total land required (in ha) |   Land acquired (in ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in ha) |
|------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) |                           276 |                      33 |                                   243 |
|    2 | Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km)            |                           189 |                       0 |                                   189 |

|   3. | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line             |   92 |   45 |   47 |
|------|------------------------------------------|------|------|------|
|    4 | Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line (41 km) |  196 |    0 |  196 |
|    5 | Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line (52 km)   |  152 |    0 |  152 |

Further, Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi new line (18 km) was sanctioned at a  cost  of  ₹734  Cr.  The  Foundation  Stone  of  the  project  was  laid  on 01.03.2019.  However,  the  project  could  not  be  started  because  the  land acquisition has not been undertaken by the State Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu.

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depend  upon  many  parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands  raised  by  State Governments/Central  Ministries/Public representatives
-  Railway's own operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

## Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition by State Government
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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