Railways minister Mallikarjun Kharge has laid the foundation stone for doubling of the 245-km-long railway line on the Hospet-Tinaighat section at Londa. The cost of this project is estimated at Rs 928.85 crore.
The Hospet-Hubli-Londa-Tinaighat is a section of the Bellary-Hospet-Vasco da Gama route (407 km) under the South Western Railway. This was converted from metre gauge to broad gauge in 1997.
The railway line passes through Bellary, Koppal, Gadag, Dharwad, Belgaum and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka. Bellary-Hospet region in Karnataka is the heart of iron ore industry in the country. Iron ore from here is transported to Chennai and Goa ports for export. The doubling will enable movement of imported coal from Marmagao Port to the steel industries and upcoming thermal plants at Jevargi in Gulbarga district and expansion of Bellary thermal power station.
