New Delhi: National transporter Indian Railways project of constructing a new bridge on Yamuna river seems to be a dream after the deadline of its completion was extended to March 2023. The construction work which started in 2003 was given a deadline of 2018 for its completion but even after 17 years of its beginning, the goal is yet to be achieved. Considering the condition of the old Iron Bridge, the project was approved as an alternative for railway operations in the year 1997-98 with a cost of Rs 137 crores.
Indian Railways is hopeful that this new project will be completed soon to meet the operational challenges. The Archaeological Survey of India also refused to approve the project as the railway line reaching the bridge was proposed to pass through some part of Salimgarh Fort but the construction work resumed by adopting few modifications.
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It was announced that the bridge will be inaugurated in June 2019 after the then Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Nitin Choudhary and the then Divisional Railway Manager of Delhi Division, RN Singh presented a progress report to the media after making a site visit.
Apart from the flood situation in Delhi, running train near schools was another big challenge as it needs to travel through the speed restricted area which was affecting its timetable.
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Meanwhile, Northern Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Deepak Kumar has informed that the old iron bridge is currently in a good condition and it is completely safe to run trains on it due to its repair work which was done in 2018 by installing 26 steel girders of six thousand metric tons to give support.
Notably, there is no visible development in the construction of the new railway bridge since 2019.
