Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament (lok Sabha), recently laid the foundation stone for development of a new broad-gauge rail line between Unchahar-Salon-Amethi on Northern Railway.
On the same occasion, he also flagged of new train services, 64282/64281 MEMU train between lucknow-Sultanpur (flagged from from Nihalgarh station) and DEMU Train 74202/74201 between lucknow-Pratapgarh (flagged from lucknow station). Minister for Railways Mallikarjun Kharge was the distinguished guest on the occasion. Members of Parliament (lok Sabha), Barabanki and Pratapgarh, Pl Punia and Rajkumari Ratna Singh were guests of honor present at the ceremony. VK Gupta, general manager, Northern Railway, Jagdip Rai, divisional railway manager, Northern Railway, lucknow, senior railway officers, staff and citizens of salon were also present.
On the occasion, Kharge announced the proposal for construction of limited Height Subways(lHS) near Rebha Village at km 933/6-7 between Amethi-Misrauli stations, near East cabin at km 934/7-8 in Amethi yard and near Baramasi village at km 939/7-8 between Amethi and Talakhjuri Railway stations on Pratapgarh-Raebareli section enabling them to cross the busy Pratapgarh-Raebareli route with enhanced safety besides a proposed lHS near Piparpur Railway Station at Km 70/4-5 between Amethi and Talakhjuri Railway stations on Pratapgarh-Sultanpur route. For the convenience of rail passengers, the Minister of Railways also announced new stoppages to important express trains running in the region which is additional stoppages to the 12371/12372 Howrah-Jaisalmer — Howrah Express and 12353/12354 Howrah-lalkuan — Howrah Express at Amethi station, 12143/12144 Sultanpur-lokmanya Tilak — Sultanpur Express at Musafirkhana station, 12369/12370 Howrah-Haridwar — Howrah Kumbh Express, 13239/13240 Patna-Kota — Patna Express and 12327/12328 Howrah-Dehradun — Howrah Upasana Express at Nihalgarh station, 12355/12356 Rajendranagar-Jammu Tawi — Rajendranagar Archna Express at Jais station, 14219/14220 Varanasi-lucknow — Varanasi Express at Jais and Gauriganj stations, 19403/19404 Sultanpur-Ahmedabad — Sultanpur Express at Musafirkhana station and at Nihalgarh station on an experimental basis for six months.
Amethi-Unchahar new BG line (length 66.17 KM), costing Rs 380 crores is part of 174 km long Shahganj-Unchahar new broad gauge link, for which preliminary engineering cum traffic survey has been completed. The new BG link between Amethi-Unchahar will have seven railway stations enroute which is Pandri, Ateha, Parshadpur, Salon, Usraina, Gangsari and Arkha in three districts that is Rae Bareli, Amethi and Pratapgarh. The alignment passes over network of Sharda canal and its feeder channels spread in the area and also crosses important roads which is national highways 31, Manikpur Road and Amethi-Parshadpur Road where road over bridges are planned. There will be a total of 17 major bridges and 65 minor bridges besides 47 road crossings (three road over bridges, 27 road under bridges and 17 level crossings) on the alignment. Through this rail line the districts of Amethi and Unchachar will be linked by two rail routes which will thereby enable greater connectivity to the national capital of Delhi, thereby hastening the region’s progress.
The DEMU train number 74201/74202 between Pratapgarh-lucknow will run all days of the week except Sunday in both directions. On its inaugural run today, the DEMU train shall run from Amethi station. Commencing regular operations from November 27, train number 74201 Pratapgarh-lucknow DEMU will depart daily from Pratapgarh at 5 am to reach lucknow at 10.45 am while in the return direction, the train number 74202 lucknow-Pratapgarh DEMU will depart from lucknow daily at 4.25 pm to reach Pratapgarh at 9.25 pm The train will consist of eight coaches with a carrying capacity of around 1200 passengers. The fares of this service will cost only Rs 35 per trip against Rs 145 per trip charged by buses and is highly beneficial to daily passengers. The train stops at Utrahtia, Mohanlal ganj, Kankaha, Nigohan, Shri Rajngar, Bachhrawan, Kundanganj, Harchandpur, Gangaganj, Rae Bareli, Rupamau, Fursatganj, Jais, Kashimpur Halt, Bani, Gauriganj, Takakhajuri, Amethi, Misrauli, Shahjipur Halt, Antu, Jagesharganj and Chilbila stations enroute in both directions.
Another commuter train services, the 64281/64282 MEMU train was also introduced between Sultanpur-lucknow (daily) on the electrified section of lucknow-Sultanpur rail section. On its inaugural run, the train commenced from Nihalgarh station. Starting regular operations from Novemeber 27, train number 64281 Sultanpur-lucknow MEMU will depart from Sultanpur at 5.55 am to reach lucknow at 9.35 am while in the return direction, the DEMU train number 64282 lucknow-Sultanpur MEMU will depart from lucknow at 4.45 pm to reach Sultanpur at 9.15 pm. The MEMU train number 64281/64282 between Sultanpur-lucknow consists of 12 coaches and can carry around 2400 passengers. The train will cover the 140 km distance in around four hours compared to the four hours and 40 minutes by conventional passenger trains. The cost of the train services are highly economical as this service costs only Rs 30 per trip vis-à-vis Rs 120 per trip charged by buses. The train stops at Bandhua Kalan, Shiv Nagar, Musafirkhana, Adhipur, Warisganj, Nihalgarh, Sindurwa, Akbarganj, Chaubisi, Haidergarh, Tribediganj, Chhandrauli, Rahmat Nagar, Anupganj, Bakkas and Utrahtia stations enroute in both directions.
MEMU (Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit) and DEMU (Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit) are high speed non-suburban services with higher carrying capacity and faster acceleration/deceleration than the convention passenger trains. This results in saving of commuting time for daily Passengers. Northern Railway expects to bring in greater progress and public convenience through these comprehensive development projects.