Hon'ble Railway Minister lays foundation stone for new BG railway line between Kallakurichi and Chinna Salem

 Hon'ble Railway Minister addressing the gathering in Chennai

 Sri Suresh Prabhu laying the foundation stone for Kallakurichi Chinna Salem BG Line through  Video Conference from Chennai

 The Foundation Stone unveiled by Hon'ble Railway Minister 

 Sri P. Mohan, Hon'ble State Minister for Rural Industries and Labour unveils the Foundation Stone at Kallakurichi 

 Hon'b'e Railway Minister addressing the dignitaries at Kallakurichi Function through Video Conference 

 Sri P. Mohan addresses the gathering (sitting :L-R Sri R.S. Sinha,, ADRM, Sri G. Balakrishnan, Kallakurichi Municipal Chairman, Sri Shubhranshu, DRM, SAlem, Dr. K. Kamaraj, Kallakurichi MP

Sri P. Mohan, Hon'ble State Minister for Rural Industries and Labour addresses the gathering 

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways laid the foundation stone for the  new broad gauge rail line between Chinna Salem – Kallakurichi at Kallakurichi through video conferencing, in the august presence of Thiru P. Mohan, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Industries and Labour, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Dr. K. Kamaraj, Hon’ble M.P., Tmt. K. Alaguvelu, Hon’ble M.L.A, Thiru G. Balakrishnan, Municipal Chairman, Kallakurichi, Thiru Shubhranshu, Divl. Railway Manager, Salem Division, Southern Railway.

Hon’ble Union Railway Minister, during his address, said that Railways is innovative in providing improved passenger amenities such as paperless ticketing, online complaints redressal forum, etc.  He mentioned that Railways is using social media effectively.  Railways is earnestly continuing the Swachh Bharat Mission by having ‘Clean Railways – Clean India’ as one of its goals.  Even as demands are more and funds are limited, projects are sanctioned based on importance.  With the limited resources available, funds for railway projects in Tamil Nadu are sanctioned as much as possible.  During the current railway budget, Tamil Nadu was sanctioned more amount compared with previous years, the minister added.

New broad gauge line between Chinna Salem – Kallakurichi

A new broad gauge railway line, running to a length of 16 km, between Chinna Salem – Kallakurichi in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned.

Chinna Salem is an existing railway station in Vriddhachalam – Salem branch line.  A number of modern rice mills, sago factories, textile mills and sugar mills are situated in and around Chinna Salem which make this town a centre of commercial activities.

Kallakurichi is a nodal point for marketing agricultural produce which are being transported to many parts of the country.  Provision of a railway station at Kallakurichi is a long pending demand of the people of this region.

Therefore, provision of a new broad gauge railway line between Chinna Salem – Kallakurichi has been sanctioned.  This new rail line will be a boon to the farmers and traders to market and transport their produce.  This line will also immensely benefit students and the general public.

Salient features of the project:

District traversed                    :  Villupuram
Length                                      :  16.20 km.
Number of bridges                 :  Major bridges – 2
                                                       Minor bridges – 22
Level crossings (manned)     :  3
Road overbridges                   :  1
Road underbridges                :  10
Cost of the project                 :  Rs.116.61 cr.
Govt of Tamil Nadu has remitted a sum of Rs.64 crs towards its cost share in the new BG line project on 50:50 cost sharing basis.