New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved two projects of Railways with a total estimated cost of Rs 6,798 crore on Thursday.
Briefing the reporters here, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Two projects are doubling of Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur Section covering 256 kms, and construction of new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati covering 57 kms."
Vaishnaw said, "The doubling of Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga and 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 eight districts in three states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar - will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 313 kms.
The new line project will provide connectivity to 168 villages and about 12 lakh populations with nine new stations. Multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to two Aspirational Districts (Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur) serving 388 villages and about nine lakh population, he said.
"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 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA). The Railways being an environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost of the country, lower CO2 emissions (168 Crore Kg) which is equivalent to plantation of seven crore trees,” the Union Minister added.
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, officials said.
According to officials, the multi-tracking proposal will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways.
