The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved Ahmedabad (Sarkhej) – Dholera semi high-speed BG double line project of Ministry of Railways at a cost of about Rs 20,667 crore. It will be Indian Railways’ (IR) first semi high-speed project, planned with indigenous technology.
The line will provide faster connectivity between Ahmedabad, Dholera SIR( Special Investment Region), upcoming Dholera Airport and Lothal National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC). Dholera is being developed as a major hub for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing in the future.
The semi–high speed railway will cut down travel time between Ahmedabad and Dholera to 48 minutes for Sabarmati -Dholera and 34 minutes for Sarkhej-Dholera, said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a press conference in New Delhi a short while ago.
The Sarkhej-Dholera project is planned under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan. It will add about 134 route km to the existing IR network. The project has a design speed of 220 kmph and an operational speed of 200 kmph. The project is envisaged to be completed in four years with plans to extend it to Bhavnagar in the future.
The Sarkhej Dholera semi-high speed railway will connect 284 villages with a population of about 5 lakhs. A spur line for Lothal which has the famous Lothal Maritime Heritage Complex project will also be constructed.
The line will connect to Ahmedabad metro at three locations- Sabarmati, Gandhigram and Vastrapur and to the Mumbai Ahmedabad high speed corridor at Sabarmati. It will connect to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor at Moraiya near Sanand; Sanand industrial area near Bisalpur.
Land acquisition for the project’s alignment has been done (30 –metre wide corridor) alongside the Sarkhej-Dholera expressway as a semi-high speed railway requires a new alignment, Vaishnaw said.
Salient Features
Route Length -134 km
Stations-13
Bridges- 3 mega bridges
Viaducts-74-km
Road-under-bridge-39
Rail-over-rail bridge -2
Additional Freight traffic- 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum)
Logistics Cost saving-Rs 54 crore every year
Oil import reduction -0.48 crore litres (48 lakh litres)
Employment Generation: 91 lakh human days
