Cabinet approves construction of double railway line between Chennai- Kanyakumari

New Delhi [India], August 2 (ANI): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of double line with electrification between Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday. The Cabinet approved the construction of doubling of line with electrification between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari. The total length of the line will be 86.56 kilometers. The estimated cost of the Project will be Rs.1431.90 crore and completion cost of Rs.1552.94 crore with 5% escalation per annum. The project is estimated to be by 2020-21. The project will generate direct employment during construction for 20.77 lakh mandays. The project would not only speed up the operation of goods and coaching trains, but also provide additional capacity for meeting the increase in traffic in future. The section is heavily passenger oriented which also serve the goods traffic from nearby ports. Operations from Vizhinjam port is likely to start by 2019 and 30% of its gateway traffic, is likely to be handled by the Railways. Present line capacity of Thiruvananthapuram-Nagarcoil section of this route has already saturated which is causing heavy detention to trains moving towards Kanyakumari and Chennai. Line capacity of this route needs to be enhanced to meet the demands for additional trains and smooth movement of trains through the route.(ANI)