Centre approves doubling of Nimach-Ratlam and Rajkot-Kanalus railway line

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Modi has approved the doubling of the Nimach-Ratlam along with the Rajkot-Kanalus railway line. The total estimated cost of the project will be Rs1,095.88 crore and its escalated completion cost is Rs1,184.67 crore. The total length of the doubling of the line is 132.92 km. The project will be completed in four years

New Delhi:The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the doubling of the Nimach-Ratlam railway line. The total estimated cost of the project will be Rs1,095.88 crore and its escalated completion cost is Rs1,184.67 crore. The total length of the doubling of the line is 132.92 km. The project will be completed in four years.

The line capacity utilisation of the Nimach-Ratlam section is up to 145.6% with maintenance blocks. The project route section has become over-saturated well above optimum capacity even without maintenance block. The main inward freight traffic carried is coal for captive power plants of cement companies. Traffic on the section will further increase on account of new cement industries coming up due to the availability of huge deposits of cement grade limestone in the Nimach - Chittorgarh area.

Doubling of the Nimach-Ratlam section will increase the capacity of the section. Thus, more goods and passenger trains can be introduced on the system. Due to the proximity of cement industries, additional freight traffic of 5.67 million tonnes per annum is expected from 1st year which will increase to 9.45 million tonnes per annum in the 11th year. This will provide easy connectivity as well result in the socio-economic development of the region. The project will also boost tourism in the area as many historical sites including Fort of Unchagarh are situated in the project area.

Cabinet approves doubling of Rajkot-Kanalus railway line. The total estimated cost of the project will be Rs1,080.58 crore and its escalated completion cost is Rs1,168.13 crore. The total length of doubling of the line is 111.20 km. Doubling of the section will increase the capacity and more traffic can be introduced on the system. The proposed doubling from Rajkot to Kanalus would lead to the all-round development of the Saurashtra region

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has also approved the doubling of the Rajkot-Kanalus railway line. The total estimated cost of the project will be Rs1,080.58 crore and its escalated completion cost is Rs1,168.13 crore. The total length of the doubling of the line is 111.20 km. The project will be completed in four years. The existing goods traffic handled on the section mainly consists of Coal, Cement, Fertilizer and Food grains. The freight is generated from industries connected to private sidings taking off from the project route alignment. Future substantial Goods traffic is projected by big industries like Reliance Petroleum, ESSAR oil and Tata Chemical.

The single line BG section between Rajkot — Kanalus has become oversaturated and there is a need for additional parallel BG lines to ease out operational working.30 pairs of passenger/mail express trains are plying on the section and existing line capacity utilization with maintenance block is up to 157.5%. Detention to both Goods and Passenger traffic will be reduced considerably after doubling.

Doubling of the section will increase the capacity and more traffic can be introduced on the system. The proposed doubling from Rajkot to Kanalus would lead to the all-round development of the Saurashtra region.