'Railways adds 14.5 km of new tracks daily': Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw made the remarks during a Cabinet briefing in New Delhi and highlighted that a decade ago, the average construction pace in Railways was 4 km per day

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Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that the average construction pace in Indian Railways has increased significantly during the Narendra Modi government with 14.5 kilometres of tracks being constructed everyday.

He said, 10 years ago the average construction pace in Railways was 4 km per day.

“Today, 14.5 km per day of railway lines are being constructed. Around 5,300 km of railway lines were added to the existing network last year,” he said, adding that all the sanctioned projects will be completed in the next five years.

Vaishnaw made the remarks during a Cabinet briefing in New Delhi over the announcements related to the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The committee, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also announced three new railway projects worth Rs 6,456 crore.

Boosting nationwide network

The projects are a result of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan aimed at enhancing multi-modal connectivity.

The three projects span seven districts across four states — Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh and are set to expand Railways existing network of Indian Railways by about 300 kms.

The projects will introduce 14 new stations, improving connectivity in two aspirational districts, Nuapada and East Singhbhum. The Railways Minister said that the project is expected to connect around 1,300 villages and about 1.1 million people.
 

Besides facilitating ease of travelling, the project is anticipated to minimise logistics cost, and reduce oil imports and lower greenhouse emissions, the ministry said. It will generate direct employment for 114 lakh man-days during its construction.

Other key decisions taken by the Cabinet include hydro-electric projects in the north-east, e-auction of private FM channels, 12 Industrial cities under National Industrial Corridor Development Programme, expansion of ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ scheme among other things.