Kongu Region Railway Council

efit of Coimbatore convert Irugur-Pothanur Line as a Part of Coimbatore Suburban Circular railway, Change the route of Nilagiri, Cheran, Kovai & Other trains thru Irugur-Pothanur-Coimbatore route this will need a small Railway bit connection near Nanjupuram which will convert Nanjudapuram into a circular railway station. This will avoid delay of shutting in Coimbatore JN train can entry from one route and exit thru North Peelamedu route. That is Certain train Clockwise- Certain train anticlockwise this will improve efficiency & speed, All the trains proceeding to Kerala will have to touch Coimbatore Junction under this circular railway & trains originating from Coimbatore will use both Irugur-Coimbatore & Irugur-Pothanur Lines, Once doubling & Electrification is completed Irugur Pothanur Line can be used as Suburban Circular railway which will help Local people, New station can be built every 3 Km distance & Suburban trains can be operated Eg Kolkata, The circular railway line will help run through Coimbatore Junction, Podanur, Vellalore, Irugur, Singanallur, Peelamedu and Coimbatore North. Apart Regular suburban services can be started to Palakkad town, Shornur, Guruvayoor, Thrissur, Coimbatore-Salem, Coimbatore-Erode-Tirupur, Coimbatore-Pollachi-Udumalpet-Dindugal, Mettupalayam-Palani-Dindukal. Additional Line can be achieved by renew the old line between CoimbatoreJn-Vellalalore-Irugur, Even More trains can be operated in Nilagiri Mountain railway & additional line between conoor & ooty broad gauges with eletrification will reduce pollution since this line does not have problem of rain or wild animals, The mettupalayam line can be further extended to Sathya mangalam later to Chamraj Nagar via tunnel instead of forest which will reduce the distance between coimbatore- Bangalore by 60-100Km, this will help to reduce the congestion on the main railway line via Salem & pollution in Both the hill roads Via Ooty & Sathyamangalam Parallel tunnels can be constructed in lines with Pune-Mumbai Express Highway with car& truck Ro-Ro transports. Since Modern state of art Tunnel Boring Machine are available the will be less use of explosives-Pollution or damage to pristine forest, Toll collected from train & road Passenger will take care of the expenses. Hope this has to be given an integrated approach will develop all the three states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka


people supporting Kovai regions cause in specific & Tamil Nadu in general are divided, have difference of opinion ( although trying to get the same goals & disbelieving capability of self)

2. Kovai railway regions Falls under proposed Bullet train (Minimum 250Km/Hr) network between Chennai-Bengaluru-Kochi, if it is implemented via Kanakapura –Sangam –Bhavani -Mettupalayam it will save atleast 108Km as per technical report that means faster means of transport with Kovai as an unavoidable Hub.

3. Regarding Kovai Circular & Suburban Railway, You must understand that Nanjudapuram (was very much existent atleast till 1952, Sivanandha colony road, Sanganur Road, Koundenpalayam, Urumandampalayam, Pudhupalayam, Narasimmanaikenpalayam( all closed in 70s), Thudiyalur station90s, it was due to a specific group who was then in central government ministry who change the alienment of Irugur, Nanjudapuram, Kovai, Northkovai aligment to Irugur, Peelamedu, Northkovai, Kovai. So the demand is not establish new stations but reestablish old stations, Coimbatore Circular Railway can very well be a Metro Railway since it cross some of the important commercial hubs like Peelamedu-IT parks, colleges, Singanallur-Airport, Irugur-apparel parks, Avarampalayam- Ganapathy- Nanjudapuram- Manufacturing hub.

4. When it came to Chennai MRTS despite a loss making project the state government used the funds supposed to used for entire Tamilnadu to a Narrow area between Chidadiripet to Villivakkam despite in eco-sensitive region of national water ways, It also makes loses & never will recover even the capital unless converted into a part of metro-system with increase fare ( reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai_Mass_Rapid_Transit_System -So entire Tamilnadu had to pay for chennai’s gain in the name of capital.

5. Now Tamilnadu Government should drop the Chennai centric subsidies to benefit Kovai-thiruchi-madurai and other region in Tamilnadu

6. So we people from Kovai region instead of opposing each other should unite & demand for the following

A. Convert Kovai as the Mainline instead of Podanur & change the route of all express trains bypassing Kovai

B. Demand Chennai-Bengaluru-Kochi Bullet train via Kanakapura –Sangam –Bhavani –Mettupalayam-Kovai alignment

D. Mono railway is not useful because cost is same as metro, slow speed is 18-54max, less carrying capacity only 360 vs 1200 of metro

"UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL"

KOVAI METRO
Any city with a population of one million and above should start thinking seriously of having at least one or a combination of mass transport systems. And Coimbatore is no exception. The city and immediate suburbs has a population of over 2.1 million as per the latest statistics. All the industrial and economic development has resulted in the city expanding in all directions and this has resulted in a continuous urban spread for up to 35 – 40 kilometers. This is quite visible in the eastern part of the city beyond airport on the highway. The fast expansion of Avinashi – Tiruppur – Palladam belt has made Coimbatore and Tiruppur almost as twin cities. Likewise, there has been a continuous growth on the north and south directions up till the towns of Mettupalayam and Pollachi – Udumalai region. The setting up of IT companies on Sathy road and industrial development on Palakkad road has likewise expanded the city on these directions also. Taking into consideration these areas also, the population of the region comes to around 3 million. As such, the growing number of vehicles and commuters is exerting pressure in the road based transport as well as infrastructure. The need for a rail based urban mass transit system has become a necessity for this city and suburbs. Buses to Tiruppur, Mettupalayam and Pollachi / Udumalpet are jam packed during the peak hours. Every three to five minutes a bus is plying in these routes. The roads especially the one to Mettupalayam has borne the burden of this choking traffic resulting in accidents and snarls throughout the way. And the existing railway lines to these places are either under utilized with closed stations or under conversion etc. It is not possible to rely on Indian Railways for an efficient transit system. In a situation where the doubling of tracks for just 17 km around Coimbatore took more than a decade to complete and where gauge conversion is going on at snail’s pace, it will be years of wait for a good public based transit system. Moreover, there will be time lags and paucity for release of Central and State funds for a public sector metro or rapid transit system.


2.0 Major transport systems and the situation of Coimbatore


Public transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public. They are usually funded by fares charged to each passenger, with varying levels of subsidy from local or national tax revenue; fully-subsidized, zero-fare services operate in some towns and cities. Generally, they can be broadly categorized into two – road based and rail based. The road based rapid transit comprises Bus rapid transit systems (BRTS) or High capacity bus systems. The popular rail based transit modes are metros and subways, light rails or trams, commuter rails or rapid transit systems and monorails. For a growing city, with a population of more than 2 million in urban agglomeration, a variety of transit systems can be implemented. Which all systems have to be implemented depends on the geographic terrain and topography of the area, its orientation, spatial spread, distribution of commercial and residential areas, and the existing conditions of roads and carriage ways etc.


3.0 CART - Coimbatore Area Rapid Transit

Coimbatore is expanding in all directions and the urban agglomeration has expanded till Mettupalayam in the North, Tiruppur in the East, Pollachi in the South and Palakkad in the West, which are all at a distance of forty to fifty kilometer from Coimbatore city centre. All these towns have their importance industrially, commercially and residentially. This has created ample scope for developing a commuter rapid transit system that will benefit the large number of floating population that moves on either direction. Apart from this the presence of existing railway lines and those under conversion strongly make way for developing suburban railway networks. But, unlike the Railway operated local suburban lines in Mumbai or Chennai, in Coimbatore, a mix of metro and commuter system is planned that can be termed as a rapid transit. The essential features of this system will be a common rapid transit terminal like Mumbai CST, Church gate or Chennai Suburban Terminal which will be based near the city rail hub. The various lines will deviate from this central terminal and in the city they will run elevated thus like a metro or like Chennai MRTS. Named CART, Coimbatore Area Rapid Transit is a fusion of metro and commuter suburban system that proposes to connect the textile city with Mettupalayam, Tiruppur and Pollachi (can be extended to Udumalpet in the next phase). The system as mentioned will use of existing broad gauge routes, where it will add tracks and will make electrification as well as construct new railway stations with futuristic designs that befit a metro or rapid transit. The trains used for operations will be three to four car units with modern facilities like air conditioning, automatic sliding doors and plush interiors thus making it more like a metro. The essential features of this system will be a common rapid transit terminal. The three lines proposed under CART have been demarcated by using three colors - Mettupalayam, Tiruppur and Pollachi, which are respectively named Blue, Red and Green lines.