Ghaziabad-Sitapur railway expansion cleared
The Centre on Saturday approved two major railway projects — the 403-km Ghaziabad-Sitapur 3rd and 4th lines in Uttar Pradesh and the 198 km Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam 3rd and 4th lines in Andhra Pradesh — worth Rs 24,815 crore. The increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, improving operational efficiency and service reliability for the Indian Railways.
The unique feature of the project is that the new line will have entirely new railway stations with the prefix ‘New’ in the city en route, which will be used for passenger and freight services. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday approved both railway ministry projects.
The project crossing Uttar Pradesh will finally be extended to Guwahati and the north-eastern region to provide a dedicated line connecting the NE region with the national capital, as there is immense load on the existing connectivity via Kanpur, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Patna, and Katihar.
The two projects, covering 15 districts across Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, will expand the Indian Railways network by about 601 km. Outlining the benefits of the two projects, the government said they are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as coal, foodgrains, cement, iron and steel, containers, fertiliser, sugar, chemical salts, and limestone.
The construction of these new lines will also provide a boost to the tourism sector as they will improve rail connectivity to several prominent destinations, including the Dudheshwarnath temple, Garhmukteshwar Ghat, Dargah Shah Wilayat Jama Masjid (Amroha), Naimisharanya (Sitapur), Annavaram, Antarvedi, Draksharamam, etc., the statement said.
The Ghaziabad-Sitapur is an existing double-line section forming a key part of the Delhi-Guwahati high-density network. Talking about the benefits of the line, the Government said the project is crucial for improving connectivity between the northern and eastern regions of the country because the existing line capacity utilisation of the section is at 168 per cent, and is projected to go up to 207 per cent in case the project is not taken up.
The Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam section forms part of the Howrah-Chennai high-density network, and the proposed project is part of a quadrupling initiative for the route. The Government said the project passes through the East Godavari, Konaseema, Kakinada, Anakapalle, and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
“Visakhapatnam is identified as an aspirational district. It provides connectivity to some major ports along the east coast, such as Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Machilipatnam and Kakinada,” the statement said.
