The Hindu : Front Page : Irugur: doubling works to be over by next July

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Sunday, Jun 29, 2008
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Irugur: doubling works to be over by next July

Staff Reporter

Photo: M. Periasamy

Long wait: Blue metal piled up along the railway track near Rathinapuri. —

Coimbatore: Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Chopra inspected railway line doubling work between Coimbatore Junction and Irugur and fixed July 2009 as the final deadline for the completion of the project.

Mr. Chopra along with Chief Administrative Officer R. Ramanathan, Chief Engineer (Construction) Bola Singh and Divisional Railway Manager S. Mohan on Saturday inspected the ongoing works for doubling the 16-km Coimbatore–Irugur railway line and reportedly pulled up officials for the inordinate delay.

8 km completed

The officials told the General Manager that work on 8 km out of the 16-km stretch was over. The work involved widening of 15 bridges. Work on two major bridges on NH 209 at Ganapathy and on Avanashi Road near Hope College was in progress and would be completed by March 2009, they said. The total outlay for the project, including cost escalation, is Rs. 50 crore.

Mr. Chopra told the officials categorically that the internal deadline to complete the project would be March 2009 and the external deadline July 2009. He also inspected various development works at Coimbatore Junction to improve passenger amenities. He also inspected the construction of a foot overbridge connecting all platforms with the entrance and exit points. The bridge will ease congestion during peak hours at the main entry point.

Inspection

Mr. Chopra also inspected the work in the subway at the entry point and told the officials to make it passenger-friendly.

The single line bottleneck between Irugur and Coimbatore Junction is affecting the timely operation of incoming and outgoing trains during peak hours and a number of important trains are being diverted via Podanur and Irugur skipping Coimbatore Junction. The line doubling was initiated two decades ago and the delay was owing to cost escalation and issues relating to land acquisition.

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