Rawat asks Prabhu to speed up rail projects

Uttarakhand chief minister also seeks relaxation in certain railway standards to push projects in Himalayan states

Ahead of the railway Budget, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday held telephonic talks with Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and called for speeding up pending rail projects in the state.

Rawat asked Prabhu to give relaxation in certain railway standards to push the projects in Himalayan states, especially in Uttarakhand due their strategic locations for sharing vast borders with China, an official statement said.

As China has developed big infrastructure along its border with Uttarakhand, top priorities should also be given to the state as far as the development of railway projects goes, the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, the state government has sent a request to the Northern Railway for running intercity express trains between Lucknow-Barielly-Kathgodam, New Delhi-Kathgodam and Kathgodam-Dehra Dun. The government has also requested the railways to conduct the survey of Bageshwar-Tanakpur railway line, senior government officials said.

The state government is also expecting the Railway Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which is implementing the 125-km Rishikesh-Karanprayag project, to speed it up. The foundation stone for this rail project in the Garhwal region with a preliminary cost of Rs 4,295 crore was laid three months before the 2012 Assembly election in the state. The project was one of the key poll planks of the ruling Congress at that time.