Nine New Railway Line Projects Approved In Last Three Years, Says Railway Minister

Nine new railway line projects having a total length of 458.7 km have been sanctioned during the last three years, i.e. FY 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and the current financial year. The information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways in Lok Sabha on 20 July.

Among the sanctioned projects, one project each has been sanctioned in Central Railway, East Coast Railway, North Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway. Two projects have been sanctioned in North Western Railway and three projects in South Western Railway.

A maximum of 194 km new length has been approved in the South Western Railway, followed by 108 km in Central Railway, 81 km in North Eastern Railway, 59 km in North Western Railway, 14 km in East Coast Railway and 2.7 km in Northeast Frontier Railway.

New Lines

The new railway line projects include 108 km long Vaibhavwadi–Kolhapur (now Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus) in Maharashtra, 81.17 km long Sahjanwa–Dohrighat in Uttar Pradesh, 155 km line between Narayangarh in West Bengal and Bhadrak in Odisha, and recently approved 116.65 km long Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road new rail line.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the construction of Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road new rail line to be constructed by Ministry of Railways at an estimated cost of Rs 2,798.16 crore.

The project will be completed by 2026-27. This railway new line between Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road will connect the two important religious sites of Ambaji Temple in Banaskantha district of Gujarat and Ajitnath Jain temple at Taranga Hill with railway’s main network.

Survey of New Lines

New Railway line projects are surveyed/sanctioned Zonal Railway wise as the Railways’ surveys/projects may span across state/UT boundaries.

In the last three years i.e. 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and current financial year 2022-23, 104 surveys for new railway lines of a total length of 7,652 km have been approved throughout the country.

A maximum of 16 new railway lines were approved for survey in Northern Railway followed by 14 in East Coast Railway, 10 each in East Central Railway and South East Central Railway, eight in North Western Railway, seven in Western Railway, six each in Central Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway, South Eastern Railway and South Western Railway.

Detailed Project Report (DPR) is prepared for those projects which are found feasible after survey. Projects are appraised based on parameters brought out in DPR.

After firming up various parameters, further sanctioning of the project requires consultation with various stakeholders, including state governments and necessary approvals, viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, approval of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs etc.

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