Chennai
oi-Prakash KL
The
ambitious
high-speed
rail
link
between
Hyderabad
and
Chennai
has
inched
closer
to
the
planning
finish
line,
with
the
South
Central
Railway
formally
forwarding
the
final
alignment
proposal
to
the
Tamil
Nadu
government.
The
approval
from
the
state
is
the
last
major
step
before
the
Detailed
Project
Report
(DPR)
is
locked
in,
The
New
Indian
Express
reported.
An
official
told
the
English
daily
that
the
report
will
be
ready
within
a
month
of
Tamil
Nadu
granting
its
consent.
I
Jayakumar,
Member-Secretary
of
the
Chennai
Unified
Metropolitan
Transport
Authority
(CUMTA),
confirmed
that
the
alignment
had
been
tweaked
at
Tamil
Nadu’s
request,
paving
the
way
for
a
dedicated
stop
at
Tirupati.
The
originally
proposed
route
through
Gudur
has
been
dropped.
The
South
Central
Railway
has
submitted
the
final
alignment
proposal
for
the
Hyderabad-Chennai
high-speed
rail
link
to
the
Tamil
Nadu
government,
a
778
km
project
aiming
to
reduce
travel
time
to
under
2
hours
and
20
minutes;
the
route
includes
61
km
through
Tamil
Nadu
with
stations
in
Chennai
and
near
Minjur,
and
will
include
a
stop
at
Tirupati.
A
Corridor
Designed
to
Transform
South
India’s
Connectivity
Stretching
778
km,
the
high-speed
link
aims
to
shrink
the
Hyderabad-Chennai
journey
from
an
overnight
12-hour
trip
to
just
under
2
hours
and
20
minutes.
In
Tamil
Nadu,
the
corridor
will
touch
down
at
two
stations
–
the
iconic
Chennai
Central
and
another
proposed
near
Minjur
along
the
Chennai
Ring
Road.
The
railways
has
also
sought
nearly
50
acres
around
each
station
to
develop
commercial
precincts
and
integrated
mobility
zones,
as
per
the
report.
The
South
Central
Railway,
in
recent
letter
to
the
state
transport
department,
urged
early
sign-off
on
land
acquisition
norms,
station
locations,
and
inclusion
of
the
project
in
Tamil
Nadu’s
long-term
infrastructure
blueprint.
The
railway
zone
has
also
asked
for
joint
inspections
with
state
agencies
to
ensure
the
Final
Location
Survey
stays
on
its
time-bound
schedule.
TN
Stretch:
61
km,
12-km
Tunnel,
Zero
Forest
Land
The
portion
of
the
corridor
running
through
Tamil
Nadu
spans
61
km
and
includes
one
of
the
project’s
most
challenging
components
–
an
11.6-km
tunnel
that
will
undergo
extensive
geotechnical
assessment.
Railway
engineers
point
out
that
no
forest
land
falls
within
the
223.44
hectares
earmarked
for
the
state
stretch,
a
factor
expected
to
smoothen
environmental
clearances.
The
proposed
alignment
intersects
65
roads
and
21
high-voltage
power
lines,
requiring
coordination
with
multiple
state
bodies.
Construction
activity
will
also
need
careful
planning
in
populated
northern
suburbs,
including
Pondavakkam,
Thatchoor,
Vichoor,
Mathur,
and
Tondiarpet.
Part
of
a
Bigger
High-Speed
Rail
Expansion
The
Chennai-Hyderabad
alignment
is
one
of
two
high-speed
routes
planned
in
the
southern
region,
along
with
the
Hyderabad-Bengaluru
line.
Together,
they
form
a
crucial
part
of
India’s
broader
push
to
take
high-speed
rail
beyond
the
Mumbai-Ahmedabad
corridor
and
connect
emerging
growth
centres
across
Andhra
Pradesh,
Telangana,
Karnataka,
and
Tamil
Nadu.
For
Chennai,
the
project
represents
a
pivotal
integration
with
India’s
future
high-speed
rail
grid.
With
two
major
stations
proposed
and
significant
urban
interfaces,
the
city
is
preparing
to
position
itself
as
a
central
hub
in
the
south’s
fast-evolving
rail
ecosystem.
