This places the city at the centre of a nearly 11,000km network that carries around 41% of the country’s railway traffic, although these routes account for only 16% of the network Chennai: Three of the seven high-density routes that Indian Railways plans to expand to four lanes pass through Chennai.
Recently, the cabinet committee on economic affairs approved construction of third and fourth lines of a 90km stretch between Gummidipoondi and Gudur, at a cost of about ₹2,229 crore. The project is part of the Howrah–Chennai corridor, where the existing double-line section has a projected line capacity utilisation of 131%. The 11,000km network carries a disproportionate share of passenger and freight traffic and is being expanded through a combination of existing four-line stretches, sanctioned work and sections where detailed project reports are under preparation or appraisal, according to the railway ministry. “Compared to road, rail transport is 90% cleaner. It costs about ₹1.6 per tonne per km compared to ₹3.6 per tonne per km on road,” Vaishnaw said.
“To reduce the cost of logistics in our country and simultaneously make our transportation green as we grow our economy, we must make sure these important corridors are quadrupled so that the capacity increases,” said railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a video message posted online. The Centre has also approved the 173km Kharagpur–Bhadrak fourth line and 75km Bhadrak–Haridaspur fourth line as part of efforts to expand capacity along the corridor.