Karaikal Port seeks railway lines to boost cargo movement

: Karaikal Port Ltd, developed by city-based MARG Ltd, has asked Southern Railway to set up two new railway lines to boost cargo movement.

During a brief interaction with the general manager of Southern Railway R K Kulshrestha in Karaikal recently, promoter-director of Karaikal Port GRK Reddy requested him to set up the Peralam-Karaikal and Thanjavur-Ariyalur railway lines.

In a statement, Reddy said, "Major chunk of the land required for the Peralam-Karaikal line was already in the possession of Southern Railway.

The new line would reduce the distance and help generation of additional passenger and freight traffic," he said.

The Thanjavur-Ariyalur line would benefit cement and other manufacturing industries as it could be a link in the region, he said.

Stating that the cargo movement presently takes place through Tiruchirapalli, he said, "Railways handled 33 million tonnes of cargo and made Rs 1,900 crores as freight revenue through the port since inception."