The Southern Railways has laid the foundation stone for the doubling of the Coimbatore-Irugur broad gauge line. This project is expected to enhance the traffic carrying capacity of the Podanur-Coimbatore-Irugur section and also increase the speed of traffic.

At present, the 23.70-km Podanur-Coimbatore-Irugur line accommodates all the train traffic passing through Coimbatore and terminates here from both ends. However, even though double lines are available on either side of the Coimbatore-Irugur section, the single line between Coimbatore and Irugur has created a bottleneck for train traffic from either side. The Southern Railway has thus planned to double the Coimbatore-Irugur section.

The doubling project is estimated to cost Rs.38.67 crore, of which Rs.7.28 crore has been allocated in the 2002-03 Railway Budget.

The project, which includes electrification, would be implemented in phases. The first phase from Coimbatore and Coimbatore North (2.5 kms) for which land is available, would be taken up immediately, while the second phase would be taken up after land is made available by the state government.