Lok Sabha Question No. 6154 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: New Train Services in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Selvam G, Shri C N Annadurai

(a) to (e):

## Railway Budget:-

Budget allocation  in  the  recent  years  has  increased  significantly.  Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6154 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026

## NEW TRAIN SERVICES IN TAMIL NADU

## 6154. SHRI SELVAM G: SHRI C N ANNADURAI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to expand the railway network and introduce  new  train  services  in  various  regions  of  Tamil  Nadu  to improve  connectivity  particularly  in  rapidly  developing  districts  and tourist destinations;
- (b) if so, the details of the new railway lines, doubling, electrification and passenger train services proposed or under consideration in the State;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to introduce additional Vande Bharat Express services connecting major cities of Tamil Nadu or include more stations in the existing routes;
- (d) if so, the project-wise details of funds allocated, released and utilised for railway infrastructure development in Tamil Nadu during the last five years and the current year; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  improve  rail  connectivity  to underserved districts of Tamil Nadu and enhance direct train services from the State to major metropolitan cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

## 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) |

## Projects sanctioned:-

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                                 |

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

## Recently Completed Projects:-

Details  of  some  of  the  recently  completed  projects  falling  fully/partly  in Tamil Nadu are as under :

|   S. N. | Project                                                  | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Dindigul-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      |

## Ongoing Projects:-

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 - Ambattur 5th & 6th lines (6 km)      | 178                  |
|     7 | Irugur - Podanur doubling (11 km)               | 277                  |
|     8 | Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4th Line (30 km)          | 757                  |
|     9 | Attipattu - Gummidipundi 3rd & 4th line (23 km) | 375                  |
|    10 | Tirupati - Pakala - Katpadi doubling (105 km)   | 1,332                |

|   11 | Tindivanam - Gingee - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km)   | 1,400   |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------|
|   12 | Atipattu - Puttur new line (88 km)                      | 1,700   |
|   13 | Chennai - Cuddulore via Mahabalipuram new line (179 km) | 2,670   |

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 (36 km)         |                            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.

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 2,478 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu.

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.

## Railway Electrification:

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified.  The  electrification  in  remaining  network  has  been  taken  up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:-

| Period                       | Route Kilometer   |
|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014 (about 60 years) | 21,801            |
| 2014-25                      | 46,900            |

In Tamil Nadu, 97% of BG network has been electrified and electrification in remaining network has been taken up.

## Train services:-

As  the  Railway  network  straddles  across  state  boundaries,  trains  are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, on originating/terminating basis,  Indian Railways have introduced 8 pairs of  Vande  Bharat  train  services  catering  to  the  needs  of  various  stations located in the State of Tamil Nadu. These are listed below:

|   SN | Train Number and Name                                              |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20627/20628 Chennai Egmore - Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express        |
|    2 | 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express      |
|    3 | 20607/20608 Chennai Central - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express          |
|    4 | 20671/20672 Madurai- Bengaluru Cantonment Vande Bharat Express     |
|    5 | 20641/20642 Bengaluru Cantonment - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express |
|    6 | 20643/20644 Chennai Central - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express      |
|    7 | 20663/20664 Mysuru - Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express          |
|    8 | 20677/20678 Chennai Central - Narsapur Vande Bharat Express        |

Further,  during  01.04.2021  to  25.03.2026,  following  34  pairs  of  new  train services (including 8 pairs of Vande Bharat train services and 8 pairs Amrit Bharat), on originating/terminating basis, have  also been  introduced, serving various stations located in the State of Tamil Nadu.

|   Sl. | Train No. and Name                                                  |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|     1 | 20609/20610 Tiruchchirappalli - New Jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express |
|     2 | 16121/16122 Tambaram - Trivandrum central Amrit Bharat              |

|    | Express                                                                 |
|----|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  3 | 16329/16330 Nagercoil - Mangaluru Junction Amrit Bharat Express         |
|  4 | 20603/20604 Nagercoil - New jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express             |
|  5 | 16107/16108 Tambaram - Santragachi Amrit Bharat Express                 |
|  6 | 16357/16358 Nagercoil - Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express                |
|  7 | 16619/16620 Podanur - Dhanbad Amrit Bharat Express                      |
|  8 | 16601/16602 Erode - Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express                        |
|  9 | 20671/20672 Madurai - Bangalore Cantt. Vande Bharat Express             |
| 10 | 20627/20628 Chennai Egmore - Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express             |
| 11 | 20663/20664 Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express           |
| 12 | 20641/20642 Bengaluru Cantt. - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express          |
| 13 | 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Triunelenveli Vande Bharat Express         |
| 14 | 20677/20678 MGR Chennai Central - Vijayawada Vande Bharat Express       |
| 15 | 20643/20644 MGR Chennai Central Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express |
| 16 | 20607/20608 MGR Chennai Central - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express           |
| 17 | 16363/16364 Ernakulam - Velankanni Express                              |
| 18 | 16807/16808 Tambaram - Tiruchchirappalli Express                        |
| 19 | 16621/16622 Rameswaram - Mangaluru Central Express                      |
| 20 | 16707/16708 Mangaluru Jn - Tirunelveli Express                          |
| 21 | 56835/56836 Mayiladuthurai - Karaikkudi Passenger                       |
| 22 | 66623/66624 Palakkad - Pollachi MEMU                                    |
| 23 | 66621/66622 Salem - Erode MEMU                                          |
| 24 | 20625/20626 MGR Chennai Central - Bhagat Ki Kothi Express               |
| 25 | 16103/16104 Tambaram - Rameswaram Express                               |
| 26 | 66563/66564 Yesvantpur- Hosur MEMU                                      |
| 27 | 16765/16766 Mettupalaiyam - Tuticorin Express                           |
| 28 | 16367/16368 Kanniyakumari - Banaras Kashi Tamil Sangamam Express        |
| 29 | 56113/56114 (Old no. 06421/06422) Coimbatore - Pollachi Passenger       |
| 30 | 16361/16362 Ernakulam - Velankanni Express                              |
| 31 | 20683/20684 Tambaram - Sengottai Express                                |
| 32 | 76627/76628 Agastiampalli - Tiruturaipundi DEMU                         |

## 34  56701/56702 (Old no. 06701/06702) Madurai - Teni Passenger

These  services  inter-alia  provide  additional  connectivity  to  various  cities located in the State of Tamil Nadu.

Besides, introduction of train services, including Vande Bharat services, on any route/section, which is an on-going process, depends on various factors which include:

- Capacity of that section.
- Availability of path.
- Availability of required rolling stock.
- Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock.
- Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets.

## Amrit Bharat Stations:

Ministry  of  Railways  has  launched  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning includes:

-  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
-  Integration of station with both sides of city
-  Improvement of station building
-  Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths
-  Provision  of  wider  foot  over  bridge/air  concourse  commensurate with passenger traffic
-  Provision of lift/escalators/ramp

-  Improvement  /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms
-  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product'
-  Parking areas, Multimodal integration
-  Amenities for Divyangjans
-  Better passenger information systems
-  Provision  of  executive  lounges,  nominated  spaces  for  business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

The  scheme  also  envisages  sustainable  and  environment  friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and  feasibility  and  creation  of  city  centre  at  the  station  in  the  long term. Development / upgradation of railway station has a positive impact on tourism in the surrounding areas.

So  far,  1,338  stations  have  been  identified  for  development  under  the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Out of these, 77 stations are located in Tamil Nadu. The name of stations identified under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Tamil Nadu are as following:

| State      |   No. of Stations | Name of Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Tamil Nadu |                77 | Ambasamudram, Ambattur, Arakkonam Jn, Ariyalur, Avadi, Bommidi, Chengalpattu Jn, Chennai Beach, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Park, Chidambaram, Chinna Salem, Chrompet, Coimbatore Jn, Coimbatore North, Coonoor, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode |

| State   | No. of Stations   | Name of Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|---------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         |                   | Jn., Guduvancheri, Guindy, Gummidipundi, Hosur, Jolarpettai Jn, Kanniyakumari Terminus, Karaikkudi Jn, KarurJn, Katpadi Jn, Kovilpatti, Kulitturai, Kumbakonam, Lalgudi, Madurai Jn, Mambalam, Manaparai, Mannargudi, MayiladuturaiJn, Mettupalayam, Morappur, Nagercoil Jn, Namakkal, Palani, Paramakkudi, Perambur, Podanur Jn., Pollachi Jn, Polur, Pudukkottai, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Rameswaram, Salem, Samalpatti, Sholavandan, Srirangam, Srivilliputtur, St. Thomas Mount, Tambaram, Tenkasi, Thanjavur Jn, Thiruvarur Jn., Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli Jn, Tirupadripulyur, Tirupattur, Tiruppur, Tirusulam, Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Udagamandalam, Vellore Cantt., Villupuram Jn., Virudhunagar, Vriddhachalam Jn. |

## Completed stations:

Development  works  at  railway  stations  under  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme  in  Tamil  Nadu  have  been  taken  up  at  a  good  pace.  Till  now, works  of  23  stations have   been   completed. The   name  of   stations

## completed in Tamil Nadu are as following:

| State      |   No. of stations | Name of stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Tamil Nadu |                23 | Bommidi, Chennai Park, Chidambaram, Chinna Salem, Coonoor, Karaikkudi Jn, Kulitturai, Mambalam, Manaparai, Mannargudi, Morappur, Namakkal, Pollachi Jn, Polur, Samalpatti, Sholavandan, Srirangam, Srivilliputtur, St. Thomas Mount, Thiruvarur Jn., Tiruvannamalai, Udagamandalam, Vriddhachalam Jn. |

The activities for  development at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the above stations is as given below:

-  Palani station: The works of improvement of station building, platform shelter, waiting hall, toilet, circulating area, parking, entry/exit arch, lift at existing Foot Over Bridge, coach indication board and train indication board have been completed. The works of Divyangjan facilities and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.
-  Virudhunagar Junction station: The works of circulating area, parking, entry/exit  arch,  Divyangjan  facilities,  coach  indication  board  and  train indication  board  have  been  completed.  The  works  of  improvement  of station building and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.

-  Thanjavur  Junction  station:  The  works  of  portico,  improvement  of concourse, platform shelter, improvement of booking office, circulating area,  exit  arch  and  signages  have  been  completed.  The  works  of parking, lift, escalator, coach indication board and train indication board have been taken up.
-  Villupuram Junction station: The works of new arrival building, platform shelter,  improvement  of  platform  surface,  booking  counter,  parcel office, improvement of parking and signages have been completed. The works of improvement of concourse, circulating area, parking, entrance arch, coach indication board, train indication board, escalator and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.

Development / Upgradation of stations is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as fire  clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance etc. The progress also gets affected due to brownfield related challenges such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipe lines, power/signal  cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in  close  proximity of  tracks  and  high  voltage  power  lines,  etc.  and  these factors affect the completion time.

Development  /  Upgradation  /  Modernization  of  stations  including  Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are  maintained  Zonal  Railway-wise  and  not  work-wise  or  station-wise  or state-wise. Tamil Nadu  is  covered  under  the  jurisdiction  of  two  railway

zones,  namely,  Southern  Railway  and  South  Western  Railway.  For  these zones, an allocation of ₹ 5,575 crore (Revised Estimate) has been made for the last four years and current year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 5,054 crore (up to February, 2026) has been incurred so far.

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