84 railway projects worth Rs 990 billion on cards to boost coal traffic

Once the coal projects are completed, the railways expects freight movement of 2 billion tonnes in three to five years

With an increasing share in the freight cargo, Indian Railways has lined up 84 projects that would cost the government Rs 989.8 billion to boost coal traffic. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will monitor 14 of these projects so that these can be completed between 2020 and 2022.

“The projects will cover 9,259 km. Fifteen of these are line extensions of 2,178 km,” said a government official. Projects of about 6,445 km would involve doubling, tripling, and adding a fourth line on some routes; gauge conversion would be done on 636 km.

Of the 14 projects that the PMO will