The Indian Railways has started survey of a new alternate route between Kanpur and Etawah to ease heavy traffic on the present Kanpur- Etawah section on the Howrah-New Delhi grand chord. The survey would be completed by December.
The survey of the new route from Etawah to Bindki via Auraiyya, Rajpur, Santi, Bhognipur, Ghatampur, Bakewar has started after Railway Board sanctioned Rs 29 lakh for it. Well placed sources said that the alternate route could be announced during the next Railway budget.
Railway officials said that the new route will be 30 kilometers less than the present Kanpur-Etawah route of 240 kilometres.
“This new route will save commutation time as well as ease traffic loan in this route,” the official said.
Sources said that the new route would cross two railway lines, the one connecting Jhansi and Kanpur at Pukhraya and another connecting Kanpur and Banda at Ghatampur. Both these station will be converted into junctions after the new route is constructed.
Presently 300 mail and express trains run daily on the Kanpur-Etawah sections, while another 50 goods trains also ply regularly.
The official said that the load factor on the section is 150 per cent which is very high and creates severe operational problems for the Railways.
“It is probably one of the busiest routes of the world. On an average, a train passes through this route every third minute. This keeps the rail staff on their toes all the time,” he said.
Officials say three years back a similar survey was carried out which recommended that no new train be added in this route as an addition will lead to chaos and pose difficulties in maintenance of routes. At that time 200 passenger and 100 goods train used to ply on the route.
"However, the suggestion failed to cut ice with the authorities and new trains were introduced. During summer vacations and festivals, the load on this route increases further. Thus, it was mandatory for Indian Railways to look for an alternate route," the official said.