In order to make the rail journey more comfortable and remarkable, Indian Railways has been launching various services and projects. In this direction,  Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Dedicated/ Inaugurated following initiatives pertaining to Karnataka through video-conferencing  from Rail Bhawan today i.e. 18-08-17 : -

1.      Commencement of work of Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag Doubling.

2.      Commencement of work of Gadag-Wadi New Line.

3.      Dedication to the Nation-Doubling of Tinaighat-Londa-Shivthan Section in Hospet-Tinaighat-Vasco Doubling.

4.      Dedication to the Nation-Doubling of Banapur-Koppal in Hospet-tinaighat-Vasco Doubling.

5.      Construction of new station building & extension of platform shelter at Chikkodi Road station.

6.      Extension of platform shelter at Rayabag station.

7.      Provision of Platform shelter on Platform no. 2 at Gadag station.

8.      Construction of new Platform 2 & 3 at Koppal station.

9.      VIP Lounge at Shivamogga Town station.

10.  500 Kwp Solar Roof Top System at Mysuru Work Shop.

11.  Provision of water conservation & recycling plant at Mysuru station.

12.  Dedication of Foot Over Bridge at Holenarasipura station.

13.  New DEMU Service between Baiyappanahalli-Whitefild-Baiyappanahalli.

14.  Commencement of work of ROB at LC 438 at Rayabag.

15.  Laying of foundation stone for Bye-pass lines at Wadi.

16.  Commissioning of Rail Bogie Karkhana, Yadgir (RVNL).

17.  Laying of foundation stone for doubling between Nethravathi and Mangalore Central stations (at Mangalore Central Railway Station).

18.  Laying of foundation stone for new FOB at Mangalore Central station (at Mangalore Central Railway Station).

Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain was specially present to grace the occasion. Member Engineering, Railway Board, Shri Aditya Kumar Mittal, other Railway Board Members and senior officials were also be present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said, “Karnataka is an important state for Indian Railways, we have allocated highest ever funds in the Budget for developing Railway Infrastructure in Karnataka. Indian Railways have formed JV with the State Government of Karnataka. Indian Railways is in transformation mode, Indian Railways have been focusing on improving Rail Infrastructure & passenger amenities like never before. Cleanliness & Make in India programmes have been successfully implemented in Indian Railways. High Speed Railway network is being worked upon Indian Railways. Soon, Indian Railways is working on the project to operate trains at 200 Kmph on trunk routes like Delhi- Mumbai, Delhi- Kolkata.

Salient Features of Projects launched today

1. Commencement of work of Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag Doubling.

●       At present, Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route is a single line rail link between Guntakal-Pune-Mumbai and Hospet-Hubli-Goa rail routes.

●       A number of Integrated Steel Plants/Power Plants/Cement Plants are coming up along the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route. This doubling work will provide the necessary line capacity for introduction of additional trains and smooth movement of rakes to/from the industries/power plants.

●       Part length for this Doubling project, i.e. from Hotgi-Kudgi (134 km) has been taken up under “Customer Funding Model” with National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC). NTPC is setting up the Thermal Plant at Kudgi station of 4000 MW capacity.

2. Commencement of work of Gadag-Wadi New Line.

●       The new rail line would provide a direct shorter route for the people of the area in Gadag, Koppal, Raichur and Gulbarga areas of Karnataka.

●       Proposed route will shorten the distance between Gadag and Secunderabad by 150 km.

●       Project is 50:50 Cost Sharing basis with Government of Karnataka (GoK) and land free of cost by GoK.

3. Dedication to the Nation-Doubling of Tinaighat-Londa-Shivthan & Banapur-Koppal of Hospet-tinaighat-Vasco Doubling.

●       The Railway line passes through Bellary, Koppal, Gadag, Dharwad, Belgaum and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka State. Bellary-Hospet region in Karnataka is the heart of Iron ore industry in the country. Iron ore from this region is transported to Chennai and Goa ports for export.

●       The doubling of railway track is also necessary to move imported coal from Marmagao Port to the Steel industries and upcoming Thermal Power Plants in Jevargi In Gulbarga District, Thermal Expansion Phase-2 in Bellary Dist. in North Karnataka.

●       In this Project, 28.75 km doublings have been commissioned and being dedicated to Nation.

4.  Construction of new station building & extension of platform shelter at Chikkodi Road station.

●       A new station building with built up area of 275 Sq. Meter has been constructed at Chikkoddi Road Station. Improvement to circulating area is done by providing paver blocks for area of 500 Sq.M. to improve the aesthetics of this station.

●       For convenience of passengers, platform at Chikkodi Road railway station has been extended by 320 meter with cement concrete flooring. New platform shelter has been provided for a length of 64 meter with seating arrangements. Above amenities towards improvements of Chikkodi Road Station were taken up at a cost of Rs. 15 Lakhs

5. Extension of platform shelter at Rayabag station.

6. Provision of Platform shelter on Platform no. 2 at Gadag station.

7. Construction of new Platform 2 & 3 at Koppal station.

●       Along with the doubling of Hosapete- Tinaighat railway line, Koppal railway station was provided with an additional platform No. 2/3.

●       This is a high level island platform having length of  540 meters which has been constructed within a time span of 2 months, and at a cost of Rs.60 lakhs.

8. VIP Lounge at Shivamogga Town station.

●       Shivamogga town is an important A category station of Mysore Division which attracts large number of tourists in the Malnad area of Karnataka. This station has been further upgraded by providing majestic VIP lounge. The VIP lounge is provided with proper ambience with granite flooring and cladding, air-conditioned seating arrangement with Sofa set, Luggage rack and improved bath-cum toilet facilities with hot and cold water. This facility to a great extent will grant better waiting experience to the travelling passengers visiting Shivamogga station.

9. 500 Kwp Solar Roof Top System at Mysuru Work Shop.

10. Provision of water conservation & recycling plant at Mysuru station.

●       The water consumption at Mysuru junction is quite high. The demand of water is being arranged through Municipal Corporation with hefty payment to the tune of Rs.18.00 Lakhs per month (Rs 2.16 crores per annum).

●       It is proposed to set up one water Recycling Plant of 4.00lakh  liters capacity  for using recycled water, which will have environmental benefit as well as economy by bringing down the reduction in the water bills.

11. Dedication of Foot Over Bridge at Holenarasipura station.

●       Holenarasipura is important D category station of Mysuru Division which is a famous for an important ancient Narasimha Temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha and river Hemavati, one of the many tributaries of the Kaveri.

●       Being the important tourist destination, the station was identified for upgradation as Adarsh station during year 2015-16. The important Passenger Amenity works to the tune of Rs.2.85 crores are added to upgrade the station as per norms of Adarsh station.

●       The work has been completed in stages and foot over bridge has been completed in the month July-17. After commissioning of foot over bridge at Holenarasipura, will have all required facilities as per Adarsh station norms.

12. New DEMU Service between Baiyappanahalli-Whitefild-Baiyappanahalli.

13. Commencement of work of ROB at LC 438 at Rayabag.

14. Laying of foundation stone for Bye-pass lines at Wadi.

●       Wadi station is strategically located  at the junction of 3 Divisions –Sholapur, Guntakal & SC Division . Though bye-pass  exists towards Secunderabad(SC) from Guntkal(GTL), yet, heavy detentions occur due to interlocking arrangements and large no. of cross movements.

●       The proposed Bye-pass between Wadi and Nalwar reduces the distance by about 12 Kms and is the most effective option to decongest Wadi Yard besides avoiding cascading detentions at adjoining stations.

15. Commissioning of Rail Bogie Karkhana, Yadgir (RVNL).

16. Laying of foundation stone for doubling between Nethravathi and Mangalore Central stations (at Mangalore Central Railway Station).

●       The doubling of this section will facilitate running of additional mail/Express trains from MAQ, since MAQ is an important  feeder Coaching terminal  to Konkan Railway, Mysore/Bangalore directions and to the Entire State of Kerala and Tamilnadu.

17. Laying of foundation stone for new FOB at Mangalore Central station (at Mangalore Central Railway Station).

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AKS/MKV/ENS