Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Goods trains operated on newly laid track

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Day one: The first goods train on the broad gauge track in Vellore on Friday

VELLORE: Two loaded goods trains — one from Villupuram to Bagala (Andhra Pradesh) and another from Katpadi to Villupuram — were operated for the first time via the newly laid broad gauge railway track between Vellore Cantonment and Villupuram on Friday, after the track was declared fit for operation of goods trains about five months ago.

While the conversion of metre gauge track between Villupuram and Katpadi stations, covering a distance of 160 km, was taken up at a cost of Rs.500 crore, the newly laid 10-km track between Vellore Cantonment and Katpadi was opened for passenger traffic and the first passenger train (Vellore Cantonment to Tirupati) on the track inaugurated by the then Union Minister for Health, Anbumani Ramadoss, on November 10, 2008.

Work on the gauge conversion between Vellore Cantonment and Villupuram — covering a distance of 150 km — was completed by January this year, and the Chief Engineer (Construction) Southern Railway declared the same fit for operation of goods trains.

However, the track has not yet been declared safe for operation of passenger trains. The Commissioner of Railway Safety K.J.S. Naidu, who completed a four-day inspection of the Villupuram-Vellore Cantonment track on April 1, told reporters on that day that he noticed some defects on the track and asked the railway authorities to rectify them. With the rectifications over, it is expected that the track would be inspected shortly for operation of passenger trains.

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