[rajkrish]

The railway ministry has approved electrification of rail lines of 3,500-4,000 km under the 11th Plan. The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 317 crore from Rs 425 crore allotted for 2007-08 for electrification of 500 km.
The sections that cover the 500 km electrification scheme include Villupuram-Tiruchirapalli Junction sector of 170 km entailing Rs 97 crore, the section between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari of 87 km, 154 km section between Tiruchi and Madurai, 22 km section between Thrissur and Guruvayur.
The electrification project will also cover Pakala-Peyanapalli (40 km), Yeshvantpur and Yelahanka (46 km), Karepalli-Bhadrachalam (45 km) and Lingampalli-Godamgura (50 km) under the South Central Railway.
The Railways Board is expecting Villupuram and Vridhdhachalam segment by September this year, and the segment up to Ariyalur by January 2008, thereby covering Tiruchirapalli junction by April 2008.
The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification is expected to submit DPR to the Board for 154 km section between Tiruchi and Madurai by June-end.
The tender formalities for 22 km section between Thrissur and Guruvayur are almost complete and the board will execute the work before December-end. The Board has floated tenders for procurement of overhead equipment and Rs 54 crore project will commence by October this year.