In a major boost to the expansion of the railway network, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the construction of six rail lines and a railway bridge at an estimated
In a major boost to the expansion of the railway network, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the construction of six rail lines and a railway bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 10,700 crore. The projects are to cater to passenger and freight traffic.
The CCEA meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod for the construction of 908 km of rail lines, which will cost over Rs 10,700 crore. The projects would be funded by extra-budgetary financing, the government said in a media release.
The expansion includes doubling of the Hubli-Chickajur line, a Wardha (Sewagram)–Ballarshah third line, doubling of the Ramna-Singrauli line, a third line between Anuppur-Katni, doubling of the Katni-Singrauli line and an additional bridge, and doubling of the Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul line. “The doubling of the 190-km-long Hubli-Chickajur railway line is likely to be completed in more than four years, during the 13th Plan period, and will cover Chitradurga, Davangere, Haveri and Dharwad areas of Karnataka,” the railway minister said in an official statement.
The Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bangalore route has been identified for doubling. The stretch is part of an important rail link of passenger trains between Mumbai and Bengaluru and goods trains to the ports at Mangalore. The doubling of tracks between Bengaluru-Tumkur and Arsikere-Chickajur has already been completed on this link, said the ministry in the media release.
, while adding that doubling work between the Hubli-Londa part of the Hubli-Londa- Vasco-da-Gama line is in progress.
“Construction of the 132-km-long Wardha (Sewagram)-Ballarshah third railway line is likely to be completed in five years in Wardha and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra,” the ministry stated.
The CCEA also approved doubling of the 160-km-long Ramna–Singrauli railway line at a cost Rs 2,675.64 crore. It is likely to be completed by 2019-20. The project will cover the districts of Garhwa in Jharkhand, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh. The Ramna-Singrauli section falls in Dhanbad division of East Central Railway. At present traffic utilisation in the section is 105 per cent, resulting in detention of trains and loss of revenue, the release said.
“Construction of the 165-km-long third railway line between Anuppur-Katni in Madhya Pradesh has also been approved at a cost of Rs 1,595.76 crore. The project is likely to be completed in over five years, spanning over the 12th and 13th Plan periods. The project will cover Anuppur, Shahdol, Umaria and Katni districts of Madhya Pradesh,” it added.
