Western Railway (WR), covering regions in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, has been allocated a net plan outlay of Rs. 3,770 crores for the financial year 2019-20.
Key highlights:
New Lines, Gauge Conversion (GC), Doubling and Tripling Projects
Rs. 200 crores have been provided for the ongoing 200 km new line construction work of the Dahod – Indore line. Another Rs. 100 crores are being allocated for the under construction 157 km Chota Udepur – Dhar line.
Significant provisions have been made for speedy gauge conversion work in WR territory. This includes Rs. 555 crores for the remaining metre gauge portions of key 472 km Ratlam – Mhow – Khandwa – Akola line.
Another Rs. 532 crores have been allotted through the EBR route for completion of gauge conversion on the 300 km Ahmedabad – Himmatnagar – Udaipur route.
Similarly, other important provisions for completion of GC have been made for Dhasa – Jetalsar (104km, Rs. 250 crores), Ahmedabad – Botad (170km, Rs. 140 crores), Ahmedabad – Mehasana (68 km, 200 crores through EBR), Dabhoi – Chandod – Kevadiya (50 km, Rs. 150 crores), with the allocation through various heads for GC totalling up to Rs. 1,980 crores.
Major allocations for doubling work include those made for Palanpur – Samkhiali (274 km, 590 crores), Surendranagar – Rajkot (116 km, 257 crores), Neemuch – Chittaurgarh (56 km, 139 crores), Indore – Dewas – Ujjain triangle (79 km, 77 crores), in all adding up to Rs. 1,222 crores for doubling work under various heads.
Upgrade of Mumbai – Vadodra – New Delhi route to 160/200 kph
In FY20, Rs. 500 crores have been allocated for the work of upgrading the Mumbai – New Delhi route to 160/200 kph. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs. 10,070 crores.
Maintenance Workshops
To begin work on setting up of a new maintenance depot for trainsets at Virar, Rs. 5 crores have been provided. Similarly, Bhavnagar Workshop is to receive Rs. 20 crores for upgradation of Periodic OverHaul (POH) capacity to 100 coaches from 50. The MEMU car shed at Vadodra has received funds for expansion of capacity to home 30 rakes.
Passenger Amenities
On the passenger amenities front, a total of Rs. 900 crores has been allocated for stations throughout the zone under various zones. This includes Rs. 515 crores through EBR funds for improvements at various stations. Included in EBR funds are Rs. 185 crores for redevelopment of Gandhinagar station. The remainder of the funds are to be allocated for various works like provision of various facilities like FOBs, escalators, lifts, etc at stations.
