Cabinet approves railway, highway projects worth ₹13,041 crore: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Four rail connectivity projects and a four-lane highway project approved to boost capacity, decongest key corridors and improve multimodal connectivity.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved railway and highway projects worth a total of ₹13,041 crore. This includes four rail connectivity projects worth ₹9,450 crore. The Cabinet also approved the ₹3,591-crore Muzaffarpur–Sitamarhi–Sonbarsa four-lane highway project.
The railway connectivity projects approved by the Cabinet are Kharagpur-Bhadrak (fourth line) worth ₹3,352 crore, Bhadrak-Haridaspur fourth line (₹1,583 crore), Gummidipundi-Gudur third and fourth line (₹2,229 crore), and Cuttack-Paradeep third and fourth line (₹2,286 crore).
“Howrah to Chennai is a very crucial railway connectivity route. It is part of the crucial seven trunk routes of the Indian Railways. They comprise 11% of the route but carry 40% of the traffic. These are very important lines and that is why doubling and quadrupling is being done in a focused manner,” said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions.
Several sections on the Howrah-Chennai route are in the DPR stage. “Howrah to Chennai will be completely quadrupled (four lines). This will enable the Railways to launch multiple new trains on the route,” Vaishnaw said.
“The four projects covering 08 districts across the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 410 Kms. The proposed multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to approximately 6,448 villages, which are having a population of about 60 lakhs,” the government said in a release.
“The increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion,” it added.
“The projects are planned on PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity & logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. These projects will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods, and services,” it said.