Nagapattinam Lok Sabha member V. Selvaraj has submitted a set of railway-related demands pertaining to his constituency to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Mr. Selvaraj met Mr. Vaishnaw in New Delhi on July 3 and handed over a memorandum listing the requirements, the most significant of which was for increased rail services from Nagapattinam.
In the memorandum, Mr. Selvaraj said the Nagapattinam Lok Sabha constituency, spread over Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts, had a large section of people whose primary occupation was agriculture and they travelled mostly by train because of the cost factor and the hassle-free nature of travel. Unfortunately, Nagapattinam does not have sufficient train services, he said.
Among the demands include the operation of an overnight express train between Velankanni and Bengaluru via Tiruvarur and Thanjavur and an early morning express train between Velankanni and Chennai via Tiruvarur. Another demand was to operate the Tirupati-Mannargudi-Tirupati Pamani Express, the Ernakulam-Velankanni-Ernakulam Express and the Tambaram-Sengottai-Tambaram Express as daily services.
The Thiruthuraipoondi-Agasthiyampalli broad gauge line could be extended up to Kodiyakarai to benefit fishermen and traders, the MP said and sought the extension of the Madurai-Punalur-Madurai train till Karaikal.
Early implementation of track doubling project on Karaikal-Thanjavur via Tiruvarur, expediting the ongoing new broad gauge railway line project from Nagapattinam to Thiruthuraipoondi via Thirukuvalai, the construction of a subway at Keerakollai in Nagapattinam at level crossing no. 47, and the establishment of a primary maintenance centre at Tiruvarur were among the other demands.
