The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved construction of six Railway Lines and a Railway bridge to cater to both increased passenger and freight needs in various areas of the country. The proposals will cost over Rs.10,700 crore and most part of the expenditure will be met through extra budgetary resources (Institutional Financing). Details of the six approved projects are as follows:

1)   Doubling of Hubli-Chickajur railway line

Doubling of 190 km long Hubli-Chickajur broad gauge single railway line has been approved. The total estimated expenditure will be Rs.1294.13 crore. The project is likely to be completed in 4¼ years during 13th Plan period and will cover the areas of Chitradurga, Davangere, Haveri and Dharwad.

Entire route from Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bengalore has been identified for doubling which will not only improve smooth flow of traffic but also boost overall development of the region.

This stretch is part of an important rail link of passenger trains between Mumbai and Bangalore and goods trains to the ports at Mangalore.  On this route, doubling between Bangalore-Tumkur and Arsikere-Chickajur have already been completed.  On balance portion, doubling work between Hubli-Londa part of Hubli-Londa-Vasco-da-Gama, is also in progress.

2)   Construction of Wardha (Sewagram) – Ballarshah 3^rd railway line

Construction of Wardha (Sewagram) – Ballarshah 3rd railway line of 132 km will be taken up at an estimated completion cost of Rs.1443.32 crore.  The project is likely to be completed in five years during 13th Plan period and will be located in Wardha and Chandrapur districts.

The line capacity utilization of the section is saturated and running of additional Mail/Express and Goods traffic over the section cause detention to the trains.  Wardha (Sewagram) – Ballarshah section is very important from goods originating point of view of Nagpur Division where many collieries and many sidings are proposed on the section. 

3)   Doubling of Ramna-Singrauli railway line

Doubling of 160 km long Ramna – Singarauli railway line has been approved at a cost Rs.2675.64 crore 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%, resulting in detention of trains and loss of revenue.  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.  The project will serve the freight and passenger traffic needs in the jurisdiction of Northern Coal Fields and series of power plants and associated small scale industries in and around Anpara and Shaktinagar, namely Anpara Super Thermal Power Plant, Rihand Super Thermal Power Plant, Renusagar Hydro Power Plant,Singrauli Super Thermal Power Plant, Vidhyachal Super Thermal Power Plant.

4)   Construction of 3^rd railway line between Anuppur-Katni

 Construction of 165 km long 3rd railway line between Anuppur-Katni in Madhya Pradesh has also been apporved at a cost of Rs.1595.76 crore. The project is likely to be completed in 5 ¼ 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 one mining which has been geared up in the recent past and ambitious plans for an enormous leap forward in the ensuing years to tap these resources lying hitherto untapped.  As a result of the rapid industrialization, number of industrial townships have also grown up along the project line.  These developments have resulted in large demand for additional coaching services on the section.  With this anticipated increase of freight traffic, the capacity utilization will reach upto 175%.  Apart from this substantial additional coal traffic from IB valley, Korba area, East Corridor and Gevra Road – Pendra Road Project would be channelized through this route to the respective destinations. In order to meet the growth in the freight and passenger traffic, tripling of 3rd line between Anuppur-Katni is essential.

5)   Doubling of Katni-Singrauli railway line

Construction of doubling of 261 km long Katni – Singarauli railway at a cost of Rs.2084.90 crore has been approved. The project will be completed in 5 ¼ years.  The project would 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.  This section intersects Allahabad-Mumbai route at Katni.  Provision of doubling between Katni-Singrauli section would provide the necessary line capacity for introduction of additional mail/express and passenger trains to serve the people of the area and transportation of coal from collieries.  This will also boost overall development of the region.

6)   Construction of additional Bridge and doubling project of Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul

Construction of additional Bridge and doubling project of Rampur Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul sector in Bihar at a cost of Rs.1700.24 crore has also got CCEA’s approval today.

The project is likely to be completed by 2019-20.  The project is located in Begusarai and Patna districts of Bihar.

The existing rail-cum-road bridge at Hathidah has single line track and doubling is not possible.  Present traffic utilization of the section is 123.5%.  At present this is the only railway bridge connecting both North and South Bihar.  Existing single line has resulted in heavy detention of goods and passenger traffic.

In order to streamline the operation of traffic in this single line section, it is very essential that one additional bridge and doubling of this section is undertaken.  By providing this facility, there will be ample fluidity in maintaining train operations as well as introduction of more passenger/goods trains in the section and it will augment line capacity too.  This will also facilitate in minimizing the running time of trains between Kiul-Barauni and Mokama-Barauni section and will ease out the existing operational constraints in this section.

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AKT/BVA/SH