Green Light for Rs 10,700-crore Railway Doubling Work

By Express News Service      18th February 2016 

NEW DELHI: The government has approved the construction of six railway lines and a railway bridge to cater to increased passenger and freight needs in various areas of the country.

The approval was given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The six railway lines and one railway bridge will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 10,700 crore, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said after a Cabinet meeting.The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod for the construction in a 908-km stretch. Most part of the expenditure will be met through extra budgetary resources (institutional financing), a government statement said. The expansion includes the doubling of the Hubballi-Chickajur line, Wardha (Sewagram)-Ballarshah third line, Ramna-Singrauli line, third line between Anuppur-Katni, Katni-Singrauli line and Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul line and an additional bridge.

The doubling of the 190-km long Hubballi-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-Hubballi-Bangalore route has been identified for doubling, which will improve rail traffic flow and boost the overall development of the region.

The doubling of tracks between Bengaluru and Tumakuru and Arsikere and Chickajur has already been completed on this link.

Doubling work on the Hubballi-Londa stretch of the Hubballi-Londa-Vasco-da-Gama is in progress.

The construction of the 132-km-long Wardha (Sewagram) -Ballarshah railway line is likely to be completed in five years in Wardha and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the doubling of the 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.