Cabinet clears construction of 3 rail lines costing over Rs6,000 cr

The union cabinet on Thursday approved three railway projects for construction of new electrified lines in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, involving a total expenditure of over Rs6,000 crore.

The projects involve construction of a 160-km third line on the Manmad-Jalgaon section of Central Railway, construction of double line between Phephana and Indara and Mau and Shahganj totalling about 150km and a new 401.47 km electrified double line between Guntur and Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh.

The Manmad-Jalgaon section of the Central Railway that caters to the traffic of Delhi-Mumbai and Kolkata-Mumbai corridors will have a third electrified line with the union cabinet approving its construction.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the construction of the Manmad-Jalgaon line with a length of 160 km.

The project is estimated to cost Rs1,035.16 crore, with expected completion cost of Rs1,198.92 crore. The project is likely to be completed in the next five years, says an official release.

Construction of third line will greatly ease the ever increasing passenger and freight traffic on Manmad-Jalgaon route, thereby increasing the revenue of the Railways. The new route will cover Jalgaon and Nashik districts of Maharashtra.

The Manmad-Jalgaon section caters to the traffic of Delhi-Mumbai and Kolkata-Mumbai corridors. Two double line tracks from Wardha and Itarsi, respectively, converge at Bhusawal. Work of the third and fourth line in Jalgaon-Bhusawal section is already under progress. With operations on the section already reaching saturation point, a third line between Manmad-Jalgaon section is imperative for improving traffic.

The CCEA also approved the construction of electrified double line between Phephana and Indara and Mau and Shahganj (excluding Indara-Mau) totaling 150 km approximately in Uttar Pradesh.

The Phephana-Indara and Mau-Shahganj lines will have approximate lengths of 50.53 km and 99.75 km, respectively. The estimated cost of the project will be Rs1,028.95 crore with expected completion cost of Rs1,190.98 crore. The project is likely to be completed in the next five years.

The doubling of these lines will remove the pressure over the congested North Central Railway route by providing an alternative route. Also, more goods / passenger trains could be run after doubling, leading to economic prosperity and development of the areas.

Besides, the CCEA approved the construction of an electrified double line between Guntur and Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh, with a total length 401.47 km.  The anticipated cost of the project will be Rs3,631 crore, which will be funded through cost sharing of 50:50 by state government and the union ministry of railway.  The project is likely to be completed in five years.

The project fulfils the commitment given in the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Act regarding the increased rail connectivity to the Rayalaseema region to Amravati, the evolving capital of Andhra Pradesh.

There is significant amount of cross traffic moving on Guntur-Guntakal section besides the scope for further increase in additional originating and terminating traffic once the line is doubled.

Besides travelling people, industries in and around Guntur-Guntakal route will have additional transport capacity to meet their requirements.