Two newly electrified railway stretches falling under Tiruchi Railway Division are getting ready for statutory inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Bengaluru, next week.
The senior railway official will inspect a 46-km electrified portion from Villupuram to Cuddalore Port Junction falling on the old main line on March 22 and a 50-km stretch from Tiruchi to Thanjavur the next day.
The overhead electrification works on the main line from Villupuram to Thanjavur is being executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), while those on Tiruchi-Thanjavur-Tiruvarur-Karaikal section by Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE).
Ahead of the inspection, a trial run using an electric locomotive is expected to be carried out in both stretches.
The 228-km main line section from Villupuram to Thanjavur via Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam is a single line stretch. Overhead electrification project was at first started from Villupuram to Cuddalore Port Junction in April last year by RVNL, a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Railways.
As part of the project, over 1,500 electric masts were erected from Villupuram to Cuddalore, where a traction sub station is to be established.
According to a senior RVNL official, the Villupuram-Cuddalore Port stretch is being readied for inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety on March 22. Post-inspection, RVNL will take up electrifying from Cuddalore to Mayiladuthurai. Civil works have already begun on the stretch.
The plan is to complete electrification in the Cuddalore-Mayiladuthurai stretch before the end of the next fiscal and the remaining portion from Mayiladuthurai to Thanjavur by 2021. The cost of electrification of the main line section and a separate 38-km portion from Mayiladuthurai to Tiruvarur via Peralam and Nannilam exceeds ₹250 crore.
The Villupuram-Thanjavur main line section serves as another route to southern destinations via Tiruchi from Chennnai and to reach Chennai via Tiruchi from the southern districts. All express, passenger and freight trains operated on the main line section are being hauled by diesel locomotives at present. Electric loco hauled trains are expected to replace them once the entire stretch up to Thanjavur is energised.
Trial run of a electric loco in Tiruchi-Thanjavur double line section is expected to be carried out early next week prior to the visit of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, a senior CORE official said.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety will carry out a speed trial run from Thanjavur to Tiruchi on March 23 itself. Simultaneously, electrification works are on in the stretch from Thanjavur to Karaikal, the official added.