Union Minister Prahlad Joshi performing Bhoomi Puja for the construction of ROB near Kalyan Nagar Railway Gate in Dharwad on Sunday.
Dharwad: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said that the Narendra Modi-led central government is committed to develop infrastructure and rail facilities in the country and Karnataka will also benefit from it to a great extent.
Speaking after performing a land puja for the construction of Road Over Bridge (ROB) near Kalyan Nagar railway gate here on Sunday, Joshi said ‘Vande Mataram’ fast passenger train will be started very soon between Dharwad and Bengaluru.
He said the ROB connecting Kalyan Nagar, Ram Nagar and Danu Nagar to Malamaddi and the rest of Dharwad would cost Rs 13.7 crore and the Karnataka government would bear 50% of the cost. Joshi said that the new platform at Hubli railway station will be the longest in the country and Dharwad railway station has been redeveloped as a hi-tech station.
Assuring all support from the central and state government, he asked SWR general manager Sanjeev Kishor to develop facilities to ensure that the travel time between Dharwad and Bengaluru is reduced to five hours.
Joshi said that emphasis has also been laid on doubling and electrification of railway lines. Hubli-Bengaluru Railway doubling work has been completed up to Chikjajur and the work is expected to be completed by March, 2023. Electrification will also be completed by December, 2023, he said. He said that with the doubling of the railway line, a new train ‘Vande Mataram’ train will run between Dharwad and Bengaluru.
In addition, a new railway line is being taken along the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway and this will reduce the travel time by over three hours. About 60% of the road acquisition for the new railway line has been completed and 80% of the land acquisition should be completed to start the project.
He promised that the road acquisition work would be completed in the next three months and handed over to the Indian Railways to start the project.
The minister said that in the last seven years (2014-21), the Modi government has sanctioned Rs 3,245 crore to SWR, enabling it to complete several pending railway projects in the region. The electrification work of Hosapete-Vasco 340 km up to Alnavar has been completed and will be completed in the next six months. He said that Dharwad railway station has been upgraded at a cost of Rs 20 crore.
The speed of goods trains has also been increased from 14 per hour to 50 kmph. He said that a dedicated corridor has also been proposed for faster movement of goods trains.
Efforts to eliminate all unmanned railway gates
SWR General Manager Sanjeev Kishor said that SWR is making all efforts to eliminate unmanned railway gates by constructing road-over-bridge and road-under-bridge. 117 RUBs and 30 ROBs have been manufactured in the last two years. SWR has set a target of making 16 ROBs and 56 RUBs for safe crossings.
The GM said that SWR has completed 176 km of doubling and 521 km of electrification.
For this year, 270 km of doubling railway line and 729 km of electrification work has been proposed.
Earlier, Joshi dedicated the newly constructed underpass near Unkal railway station in Hubli to the public. SWR has constructed 33.66 m long, 7.5 m wide and 4.5 m long under bridge and 6.6 km of cement concrete road connecting Shirdi Nagar and Unkal.
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