There was not much cheers in the Railway Budget for Tamil Nadu.
The extension of the Tindivanam and Nagari railway line with a new line up to Puducherry and a survey for doubling of Salem to Omalur railway line were the main highlights in the interim Railway Budget for 2014-15 presented by the previous government. However, there was no mention of these in the budget presented by Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda today.
There were only four major announcements on train services for the State.
Two premium trains — between Shalimar and Chennai and between Jaipur and Madurai — were announced.
Two express trains — Ahmedabad-Chennai via Vasai Road and Visakhapatnam-Chennai — were also announced.
Effort will be made to increase the speed of trains to 160-200 kmph in select sectors to significantly reduce the travel time between major cities. The Minister announced that Chennai-Hyderabad and Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai sectors have been identified in TN for this.