A new railway line network of 1,300 kms would be ready in Chhattisgarh within a span of six years.
The State Government has also made provisions in the 2016-17 budget for providing public transportation to the people between Raipur and Naya Raipur. Under the plan, the metre gauge line between Kendri and Raipur will be taken from the Railways for development, officials stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh currently has only 1187 route kilometres of railway lines.
It may be recalled that the Public sector IRCON International ltd. has commenced work in connection with the construction of new ‘Broad Guage Electrified Double Railway line’ in Chhattisgarh on the East West Corridor.
The work is being undertaken in Gevra Road-Pendra Road and Dipka, Kathghora, Sendurgahr and Pasan sections, officials stated.
Notably, freight train with speed of maximum 100 kms per hour will pass through Chhattisgarh in the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai).
The train will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned implementation of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) with freight train speeds of maximum 100 Kmph.
Development of two key Rail corridors in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh is now set to expand the Railway line network by 45 per cent in the State, officials stated.
The completion of 235-km Dallirajhara-Raoghat-Jagdalpur, East and East-West Rail corridor (300 km) projects will comprise a total of 535 kilometers Railway-line during the next two to four years, they stated.
The South Eastern Coalfields ltd (SECl) has urged timely completion of East & East-West Rail Corridors which are crucial for coal evacuation from its Korba and Raigarh coalfields in Chhattisgarh.
The company has also urged for a massive Railway capacity augmentation, officials stated.
The South East Central Sector which includes Chhattisgarh is set to play a key role in Central government’s ambitious coal loading and transportation plans.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed recently between Ministry of Railways and Coal India limited (CIl) which will lead to procurement of 2000 wagons (33 rakes) in the first outgo, officials stated.
The agreement which will result into speedy supply of wagons for coal loading in dedicated circuits.
The Union Railway Budget 2016-17 presented in the Parliament on Thursday has put Chhattisgarh on Centre’s high priority list among states for its ambitious dedicated freight corridor project implementation plans.
The Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his budget speech has put high emphasis on ensuring structuring, award and implementation of freight corridor projects in a time-bound manner through innovative financing mechanisms including Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The Union Railway Minister in his budget speech has also put emphasis on rapid expansion of freight business to build more dedicated freight corridors for increased traffic with consequent benefits for the economy and environment with Chhattisgarh being the direct gainer from the initiative due to high coal and iron ore movement through the Railwaynetwork from the State.
Prabhu also said that technological solutions for project management and monitoring will be taken up. The latest Drone and Geo Spatial based satellite technology will be used to monitor physical progress across major projects and also the progress on Dedicated Freight Corridor, he said.
Notably, on February 9, the Union Railway Minister had commented: “For development of the country, extension of rail network in resource-rich State like Chhattisgarh is necessary and the task of Rail network extension in the State will be carried out through a special joint venture company.”
He was speaking at a programme organised to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for three rail corridor project between Indian Railway and Chhattisgarh government in New Delhi.
The country has witnessed maximum railway track extension work this year, stated Prabhu, adding that the efforts made by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on behalf of the State government for expansion of Railway network in Chhattisgarh display his commitment towards Railway’s development in the State.
The Chhattisgarh Government is committed towards extension of Railway lines across the State with necessary support from Union Railway Ministry, Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated.
“Extension of Railway network is going to bring great fortune for Chhattisgarh by putting it on path of further development and efforts in this regard have already started in the State. As of now, 17 km-long railway route has been developed and soon it will reach 50 km mark,” he said.