With a view to improve rail connectivity and ease travel for commuters, the Union Cabinet approved seven projects for Ministry of Railways at a cost of around ₹32,500 crore. Spanning 35 districts in nine States - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, the projects will add 2,339 km to the existing network.
The proposed doubling of the 96-km-long Gorakhpur Cantonment-Valmiki Nagar (Bihar) single-line section at a cost of ₹1,269.8 crore, will save two to three hours in running time for trains to Assam, Tripura, north Bihar, and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and for passengers to and from Nepal, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways. “Jute, sugar industries, maize and its products of north Bihar will be benefitted,” said Mr. Vaishnaw.
Also, the doubling of Guntur-Bibinagar (Telangana) single-line section, which is 239-km long at ₹3,238 crore, will reduce the distance for trains running between Chennai and Secunderabad by 76 km. “It will further shorten distance from Vijayawada to Secunderabad by 38 km,” Mr. Vaishnaw added.
The third approved project is the doubling of existing Chopan-Chukar single-line section, which will enable faster connectivity for the mining area of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and cement industry of Chukar Churk region (U.P.) to Varanasi, Lucknow and Delhi.
Doubling between Maharashtra’s Mudkhed and Telangana’s Medchal, as well as the Mahbubnagar (Telangana ) to Dhone (A.P.) section at a cost of ₹5,655.4 crore will boost connectivity for Maharashtra’s sugar industry in Parbhani and Washim, and help Hingoli’s soya produce gain export markets through eastern ports. It will also boost exports from quartz quarries in Godwad, Wanaparth and Veldurthi in Telangana, as well as the upcoming steel and chemical industry in Rayalseema, A.P. Travel time from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat to south India will reduce by three to four hours.
The proposed quadrupling between the 53-km Samakhiali-Gandhidham stretch at a cost of ₹1,571 crore will help in developing the Deep Dayal, Mundra, Jakhau and Tuna ports in Kutch. “Cement hub of Bayor will get a wider market. Limestone mine, bentonite and salt [from Hajipir area in Gujarat] will start moving on cheaper rail mode,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.
For the busy East Coast Railway zone, Mr. Vaishnaw said a third line is being proposed between Odisha’s Nergundi and Barang and Odisha’s Kurd Road-Vizianagaram at a cost of ₹5,618 crore. “While work on the line from Kolkata to Bhadrak [Odisha] is mostly complete, now we are working on connecting Bhadrak to Cuttack and Ganjam [Odisha]. The line will further connect Ganjam to Visakhapatnam and we will further put in a proposal to connect it all the way to Chennai. “This will help ease movement of coal from Paradeep and Gopalpur ports to steel plants, and faster movement of iron ore from mines in Keonjhar to ports,” said Mr. Vaishnaw.
The seventh approved project is multi-tracking of the 374.5-km Son Nagar-Andal line at the cost of ₹13,606 crore. The project will connect Bihar with Jharkhand and West Bengal. “Currently 35 trains are operational each way and this number will increase to 100+ by 2050. It will decongest Delhi-Howrah route and the industrial corridor will get a major boost,” said Mr. Vaishnaw.
