S. Rly broad gauge conversion work apace

Tiruchi: The entire rail network of the Southern Railway would become broad gauge by the end of the Eleventh Plan period, its General Manager, Mr Rakesh Chopra, has said.

The zone is left with about 1,200 km of metre gauge lines now and approval for conversion of 100 km was expected soon.

The Southern Railway has been allotted Rs 1,000 crore during the current year for various projects.

About 320 km has been taken up for gauge conversion and 77 km for doubling this year, he told reporters here on Thursday.

Some projects have been delayed due to contractors’ refusal to execute the works citing the hike in steel and cement prices, Mr Chopra said. . With gauge conversion being taken up in a big way, Southern Railway has been left with surplus metre gauge rolling stocks, including 28 locomotives, 320 coaches and 300 wagons. “Efforts are on to relocate them,” he said.

Electrification

Answering a query, he said electrification of the Villupuram-Tiruchi section would be completed by September 2008 and the work up to Virudhachalam, by March.

Despite a delay in foodgrain and fertiliser arrivals, the Southern Railway was hopeful of achieving its freight target of 31 million tonnes for the year.

So far, about 19 million tonnes have been moved.

“There was a setback due to a delay in foodgrains loadings due to natural vagaries. The shutting down of a couple of fertiliser plants has also affected loadings.

“But we hope the loadings will improve in the coming months,” he said. There has been an improvement in coal and cement loading, he added.