Cabinet Approves Rs 10,700-Cr Rail Line Expansion Plan

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved construction of six rail lines and a railway bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 10,700 crore to cater to increased passenger and freight needs. The CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod for the construction in a 908 km stretch, which will cost over Rs 10,700 crore. Most part of the expenditure will be met through extra budgetary resources (institutional financing), according to a release. The expansion includes doubling of the Hubli-Chickajur line, the Wardha (Sewagram)-Ballarshah third line, doubling of the Ramna-Singrauli line, third line between Anuppur and Katni, doubling of the Katni-Singrauli line and an additional bridge, and doubling of the Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul line. The doubling of 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, it said. The Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bangalore route has been identified for doubling, which will improve rail traffic flow and boost overall development of the region. The stretch is part of an important rail link of passenger trains between Mumbai and Bangalore and goods trains to the ports at Mangalore. The doubling of tracks between Bangalore and Tumkur, and Arsikere and Chickajur has already been completed on this link. 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 release said. The line capacity utilization of the section is saturated and running of additional Mail/Express and goods traffic over causes delay in movement of the trains. CCEA approved doubling of 160 km long Ramna-Singarauli railway line at a cost Rs 2,675.64 cr and 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 utilization of the section is 105 per cent, resulting in detention of trains and loss of revenue, the release said. In order to attain the desired fluidity and increase in the sectional capacity, doubling of this single line section is very essential from operational point of view. Construction of 165 km long third railway line between Anuppur-Katni in Madhya Pradesh has also been approved at a cost of Rs 1595.76 crore. The project is likely to be completed in over five years spanning over 12th and 13th plan period. The project would cover the districts of Anuppur, Shahdol, Umaria and Katni districts of Madhya Pradesh. There has been tremendous surge in coal and ore mining recently. A number of industrial townships have also grown up along the project line. These developments have resulted in large demand for additional railway coach services on the section, it said. With an increase in freight traffic in the area, the capacity utilization will reach upto 175 per cent. Apart from this substantial additional coal traffic from IB valley, Korba area, East Corridor and Gevra Road - Pendra Road Project will be channelised through this route to the respective destinations. To meet the growth in the freight and passenger traffic, tripling of third line between Anuppur-Katni is essential, the release said. The doubling of 261 km long Katni-Singarauli railway at an estimated cost of Rs 2,084.90 crore has been approved by the CCEA and the project will be completed in over five years. The project will cover the districts of Katni, Shahdol, Sidhi and Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. Katni-Singrauli is a critical and busy section carrying coal from Northern Coal Fields towards Western and Northern thermal power plants. Construction of additional Bridge and doubling project of Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul sector in Bihar at a cost of Rs 1700.24 crore was also granted CCEA's approval. The project is likely to be completed by 2019-20. The project is located in Begusarai and Patna districts of Bihar. To streamline traffic operation on this single line section, it is very essential that one additional bridge and doubling of this section is undertaken, it said.

Cabinet Approves Rs 10,700-Cr Rail Line Expansion Plan

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