Cabinet approves two railway projects worth Rs 6,798 crore to be completed in 5 years

Cabinet approves two railway projects worth Rs 6,798 crore to be completed in 5 years

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved two railway projects of Ministry of Railways with total estimated cost of Rs 6,798 crore (approx). The two approved projects include doubling of Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur section covering 256 km and construction of new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati covering 57 km to be completed in 5 years.

The doubling of Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur Section will strengthen the connectivity to Nepal, North-east India and border areas and facilitating movement of passenger trains along with goods train resulting in the socio-economic growth of the region.

The new rail line project Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu traverses through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam district of Telangana.

The two projects covering 8 districts in 3 states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar) will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 313 km.

New Line project will provide connectivity to approx. 168 villages and about 12 lakh population with 9 new stations. Multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to two aspirational districts (Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur) serving approx. 388 villages and about 9 lakh population.

These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as agriculture products, fertilizer, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 31 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).

The new line proposal will provide direct connectivity to ‘Amaravati’ the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh and improve mobility for industries and the population, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The multi-tracking proposal will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways.