The Mayiladuthurai-Tharangampadi Train Restoration Committee has renewed its urgent call for the revitalization of the historic 30-km railway line between Mayiladuthurai and Tharangampadi, advocating for its crucial extension to Thirunallar.
During Governor R.N. Ravi’s recent visit to Mayiladuthurai on Sunday, committee leaders Arupathi P. Kalyanam (organiser) and K. Rajendran (coordinator) personally presented a detailed representation, highlighting the project’s importance.
The committee members implored the Governor to champion their cause with the Union Railway Minister, emphasizing that this heritage route, operational for six decades from 1926 to 1986, holds immense tourism potential. Despite feasibility surveys for the Thirunallar extension conducted in 2006-07 and 2010, the project remains stalled at the Railway Board, awaiting approval.
According to the committee, only a short 11-kilometer stretch of new track is required to connect Tharangampadi to Thirunallar, which is already linked to Karaikal via the existing Peralam-Karaikal line.
Implementing this project would significantly boost tourism and economic development across the entire Cauvery delta. It would establish crucial connections between major Hindu, Islamic, and Christian pilgrimage centers, effectively creating a vital circular rail network for the region.
Mr. Kalyanam assured that land acquisition for the project should not be an obstacle, as ample railway-owned land is readily available along the Mayiladuthurai to Tharangambadi corridor.
He further noted that the original meter-gauge track, serving towns like Mannampandal, Sembarnarkoil, Thirukadaiyur, Thillaiyadi, and Porayar, was initially laid during the British colonial period in the late 1920s.