Move to decongest rail network
To de-congest three arterial routes, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved three rail projects worth over Rs 6000 crore.
They are as follows:
Allahabad- Mughalsarai 3rd line
Third line between Allahabad and Mughalsarai (now Pt. DeenDayal Upadhyaya Jn – 150 km long at an estimated cost of Rs 2649.44 crore.
Likely to be commissioned by FY24, the project will be executed by North Central Railway’s Construction Organisation. It aims to ease the bottleneck by increasing capacity, reduce train detention and alleviate congestion at Naini and Chheoki besides providing 36 lakh man-days of employment during the construction phase.
New Bongaigaon-Agthori doubling
The CCEA also approved the doubling of the 142.97 km New Bongaigaon- Agthori section via Rangiya at an estimated cost of Rs 2042.5 crore. Likey to be commissioned by FY23, the project will be the responsibility of NorthEast Frontier Rail’s Construction Organisation.
The alignment will traverse through Bongaigaon, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari and Kamrup districts of Assam.
The double line will ease traffic on this section to handle a higher amount of passenger and freight and provide 34.31 lakh man-days during construction.
Sahjanwa- Dohrighat new line
Also approved was a new line, 81.17 km long between Sahjanwa and Dohrighat (81.17 Km) at an estimated cost of Rs 1319.75 crore.
The alignment from Sahjanwa to Dohrighat lies mostly in Gorakhpur and Mau districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The alignment will de-congest the Chhapra -Lucknow section as it will provide an alternate route by-passing Gorakhpur after the Dohrighat-Indara metre gauge section is converted to broad gauge. The gauge conversion has already been sanctioned.
This is likely to be done by FY24 with the responsibility of execution given to North Eastern Railway’s Construction Organisation.
About 19.48 lakh man-days of employment is likely to be generated during the construction phase.