Sushil Kumar Maurya, Chief Administrative Officer, Southern Railway Construction Organisation, Chennai, inspected the broad gauge line from Sundaraperumal Koil to Aduthurai via Kumbakonam on Thursday in the wake of sanction accorded for doubling the section.

Accompanied by senior officials, Mr. Maurya travelled in an Inspection Car inspecting the 21.5-km stretch, including all stations en route, said railway sources.

He also inspected the major bridge across the Arasalaru near Kumbakonam. The Railway Board, New Delhi, recently sanctioned the track doubling on the stretch at an estimated cost of ₹289.17 crore ahead of Mahamaham festival in Kumbakonam in March 2028. 

Tenders would be floated within a week for the doubling project. The project involves acquisition of nine hectares of land from the State government. The Railway Construction Organisation has planned to complete the doubling work by December 2027, the sources said.

Meanwhile, office-bearers of the All Traders Association, Kumbakonam, met Mr. Maurya at the Kumbakonam railway station and handed over a memorandum to him requesting to extend the double line work up to Mayiladuthurai from Thanjavur in the first phase.

In the memorandum, association president Chola C. Mahendran and secretary V. Sathyanarayanan requested that the Villupuram-Thanjavur mainline section be made into a double line stretch.  The association sought a new railway line from Needamangalam to Vriddhachalam via Kumbakonam and Jayankondam.