(a) whether the Pamban Railway Bridge across the Palk Straits in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu has
been opened for traffic;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Railways have any proposal to introduce more services from Rameswaram to other
destinations in the country and also to seek World Heritage Status for the Pamban Bridge; and
(d) if so the details thereof ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS ( SHRI R. VELU )
(a) & (b): Gauge Conversion of Manamadurai-Rameswaram including Pamban Bridge has already
been completed and the converted broad gauge section is commissioned for passenger train
services on 12.08.2007 by running 03 pairs of trains viz. 6713/6714 Chennai Egmore-Rameswaram
Express, 751/752 & 753/754 Madurai-Rameswaram Passengers.
(c) & (d): Introduction of 8495/8496 Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Express (Weekly) and Madurai-
Rameswaram passenger train has been announced in the Railway Budget for 2007-08 and 2006-07
respectively.
Southern Railway has planned to seek World Heritage status for Pamban Bridge.