Railway Board clears Rs 4,178 crore capacity projects in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

The Ministry of Railways has approved two capacity-augmentation projects on Southern Railway worth a combined Rs 4,178.13 crore, covering 236 km across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Both sanctions were communicated by the Railway Board to the General Manager of Southern Railway through letters dated September 21, 2026, and will be funded from Capital (GBS).

Salem-Karur-Dindigul doubling

The larger of the two is the 159-km doubling of the Salem-Karur-Dindigul line, cleared at a completion cost of Rs 2,241.67 crore. The sanction falls under Item no 231 of the Consolidated Budget Statement 2026-27 for Southern Railway.

The route runs through a belt with significant industrial and agricultural activity, including steel, cement, textiles, agriculture and food processing. The added line is expected to ease congestion, raise capacity and improve freight logistics and connectivity across Salem, Namakkal, Karur and Dindigul.

Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth lines

The second approval covers the 77-km Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth line project at a completion cost of Rs 1,936.46 crore. It is sanctioned under the umbrella work for doubling, tripling, quadrupling, flyover and bypass works aimed at augmenting the capacity of the railway network for 2025-26.

The corridor, which passes through Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, forms part of the Mission 3000 MT and High-Density Traffic Routes (Amrit Chaturbhuj) programmes. Besides adding capacity, the project is intended to improve punctuality and cater to rising freight demand.

The Arakkonam-Renigunta stretch also links to major highways and airports, with multimodal connections to industrial hubs and transport nodes that support the movement of passengers and goods.

Together, the two projects are aimed at expanding rail capacity and smoothing the flow of passenger and freight services on Southern Railway's network.