Rly to invest Rs 650 cr to improve port connectivity

Southern Railway is planning to invest around Rs 650 crore over the next 10 years in port connectivity projects at Chennai, Tuticorin, Mangalore, Ennore and Cochin.

A spokesperson for Southern Railway said that the rail co-efficient (percentage of cargo moved by rail) continues to be in the range of 23 to 25 in the last five years. The railway has been handling commodities including coke, coal, containers, fertilisers, cement, iron and steel in and out of these ports.

Last year, the railway moved around 18.6 million tonnes of cargo in and out of the Chennai Port. As the port’s traffic is expected to touch 79.6 million tonnes by the year 2013-14, it is essential to develop a good connectivity.

The port had already planned for a 15-km elevated road corridor to improve rail connectivity. Southern Railway and Chennai Port are developing a master plan to redesign the rail yard inside the port, said the spokesperson.

Recently, two additional lines between Madras Beach and Attipattu, a 19-km stretch, which connects the Chennai port, were sanctioned by the railway to double the handling capacity in the next 10 years. Third line between Kurukkupet and Ennore is ready for commissioning and work is in progress on the line beyond Ennore. With the availability of four lines, the railway would be able to use the two lines exclusively for freight and the other two for passenger services, the spokesperson added.

The railway is also planning for a 88.3-km new line at an estimated cost of around Rs 445 crore. This would be developed under public-private partnership model with Ennore Port bearing 50 per cent of the cost.

In Cochin, a new 8.8 Km line is to be laid from Idapalli station on the Ernakulam–Trivandrum connecting Vallarpadam with an estimated cost of around Rs 245 crore. This would be funded by the Ministry of Shipping and is being executed by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.

Once the Vallarpadam container terminal commences operations, the projected traffic is expected to increase to 4 trains a day by 2014 from 1.5 trains a day at present.

Similarly, the railway is planning to upgrade its terminal rail handling facilities in Tuticorin Port with an investment of around Rs 10 crore.