Suresh Prabhu lays foundation stone of gauge conversion of Ahmadabad & Mehsana Line

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Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu-indianbureaucracy
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu-indianbureaucracy

Indian Railways news update: The Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu in a programme held today i.e. 08.06.2016 at Rail Bhawan laid the foundation stone of gauge conversion of 70 km Ahmadabad and Mehsana Railway Line through video conferencing. The foundation stone was laid in the august presence of Shri Lal Krishna Advani, MP & Former Deputy Prime Minister of India who was present on the occasion as Guest of Honour. This gauge conversion was a part of the budget announcement of 2015-16. Railway Board Shri A.K. Mital, Member Engineering Shri Aditya Kumar Mittal, and other board Members were present at Rail Bhawan to grace the occasion. Various dignitaries were also presented at both the sides.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, MP & Former Deputy Prime Minister of India said that he is all the more happy to be at the function as he has been closely associated with Mehasana District.  He further said that during the last two years the people of the country are enjoying the revamped culture of the Indian Trains. Shri Lal Krishna Advani wished good success to the Indian Railways in the near future.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that Gujarat plays an important role in terms of railway traffic due to strategic location of port like Kandla. He said that the Railways has given an increased outlay in the last two year which is on an average more than 319% as compared to outlays in the preceding years so as to provide letter development of infrastructure in State of Gujarat. He said that this gauge conversion will result into faster connectivity between Delhi and Ahmadabad too.

Salient Feature of the Project : –

  • Gujarat has an important role to play in terms of railway traffic due to strategic location of ports like Kandla. In addition to it, there is a huge demand for passenger services for Gujarat.
  • There are 20 ongoing Railway projects which fall partly or fully in Gujarat. The aggregate length of these projects is 2880 km and total cost is Rs 17500 Cr. This is in addition to high speed project between Mumbai- Ahmedabad and Western Dedicated freight corridor passing through Gujarat.
  • In terms of railway network per 100 km of area, Gujarat has 2.66 km network against 2.01 km for the nation. With respect to population also, Gujarat has 8.71 km per lakh against national average of 5.46 km.
  • An allotment of Rs. 3670 cr has been made for projects in Gujarat against allotment of Rs. 3132 cr in 15-16 and 806 Cr in 14-15.
  • In the last 2 years, 4 projects have been included in Railway Budgets which fall in Gujarat.
  • 3 more projects have been included in Rly Budget 2016-17 subject to state government coming forward for financial participation.
  • Gauge conversion of 70 km long Ahmadabad- Mehsana meter gauge was included in Railway Budget in 2015-16 and foundation stone for the same is being laid today. Cost of this project is estimated to be Rs. 478 Cr. and an allotment of Rs. 100 has been made for current financial year.
  • There is a BG line also between Ahmadabad and Mehsana. After conversion of the Meter gauge line, there will be a broad gauge double line between Ahmadabad and Mehsana.
  • This section falls on Ahmadabad- Delhi main line via Jaipur. Railways are in the process of making this entire section as double line. Out of 864 kilometer long route, 407 kilometer from (i) Delhi to Alwar and (ii) Bandikui- Jaipur- Ajmer are already double line. Work is in progress on around 350 kilometer section in addition to Ahmadabad- Mehsana 70 kilometer section. 36 kilometer from Marwar to Chandrawal on this route is targeted for commissioning in this financial year.
  • Doubling of track on this route will result into faster connectivity between Delhi and Ahmadabad.
  • The work also involves electrification between Ahmadabad and Mehsana. Electrification of existing BG single line is also in progress.

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