Southern Railway has issued a tender to prepare detailed project reports for replacing 44 selected level crossings with underpasses or road overbridges across Tamil Nadu and Kerala, according to a report by Dinamalar citing Southern Railway User Consultative Committee member Jafar Ali. The proposed works are intended to remove crossings where road traffic and railway operations currently intersect at the same level.
The locations include 13 level crossings on the Attipattu–Gummidipoondi–Gudur route, which connects northern Tamil Nadu with Andhra Pradesh, and nine crossings on the Salem–Karur–Dindigul and Tiruchirappalli routes. A further 22 crossings fall under the jurisdiction of the Thiruvananthapuram railway division in Kerala.
The reported plan is part of Southern Railway’s continuing effort to eliminate level crossings and replace them with grade-separated infrastructure. Under this approach, road users pass either below or above the railway line, removing the need for vehicles and pedestrians to cross active tracks at the same level as trains.
Ali was quoted as saying that level crossings are being removed to support safer train operations. The proposed alternatives include road underbridges and road overbridges, with the choice expected to depend on the conditions at each location. The report does not specify the individual sites, design configurations, estimated costs or construction timelines for the 44 works.
The immediate tender is for preparing detailed project reports rather than for completing all 44 structures. These reports are expected to establish the technical requirements for each location and provide the basis for subsequent construction decisions. The report also does not state whether all the projects will be funded and executed through a single package or through separate works linked to the relevant railway divisions and state agencies.
For communities living near railway crossings, the removal of a level crossing can change how local roads connect across the railway network. Underpasses can maintain road movement without waiting for trains to pass, while overbridges can separate road traffic from railway operations. However, the usefulness of either solution depends on access roads, drainage, clearances and the ability of pedestrians and smaller vehicles to use the facility safely. No location-specific design details have been released in the supplied report.
The 44 crossings are distributed across routes with different operating and settlement conditions. The 13 crossings on the Attipattu–Gummidipoondi–Gudur corridor are part of a route extending towards Andhra Pradesh, while the nine crossings identified on the Salem–Karur–Dindigul and Tiruchirappalli routes cover important railway links within Tamil Nadu. The 22 crossings under the Thiruvananthapuram division represent the largest regional share in the reported programme and are located in Kerala.
According to Ali, contractors will be selected after the tender process and work is expected to begin in the coming months. The next formal step is the preparation and submission of the detailed project reports, followed by contractor selection and decisions on the specific underpass or overbridge works at each of the 44 locations.
