India - Infrastructure

Tonymercury · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:14 am

Date:11/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/11/stories/2008061152521900.htm
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National
Better passenger amenities at Chennai Egmore station
S. Vydhianathan

The Railways has spent Rs. 445.44 lakh on development
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Improvements to first and second class retiring rooms
Automatic ticket vending machines
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CHENNAI: With the introduction of more main line train services from Chennai Egmore to various destinations, the Southern Railway administration has taken steps to improve amenities to the travelling public.

In the last two years, the administration had spent Rs 445.44 lakh for providing various amenities. The works included improvement to approach road, landscaping of circulating area, additional facilities to the first and second class retiring rooms, improvement to parking area, porticos, suburban concourse and provision of X-ray scanner and surveillance cameras. To maintain cleanliness, it has introduced mechanised cleaning of station buildings, platforms and tracks. It has introduced plasma display screen, and flip flap train information board.

For the convenience of the people with disability, it has provided ramp, escalators, and battery-operated cars and low level drinking water taps. Apart from improving the surfaces of platforms 1 to 4, platforms 5, 6 and 7 are to be extended. Two new island platforms (7 and 8 ) are being constructed. After the completion of the platform works, more services could be diverted from Chennai Central to Egmore, which in turn would reduce the congestion at Central. From August 1, Chennai Central–Dadar Express is to start from Egmore.

Second entry
Though a second entry has been provided to the station since 2006, passengers’ response is not encouraging due to lack of facilities. Now bus bays have been provided and about 30 buses are operating to areas in western parts of the city, including Avadi, Poonamallee, and Anna Nagar and to suburban colonies in the north Chennai such as Tiruvottiyur and Ennore. Automatic ticket vending machines have been set up for the convenience of passengers using the second entry. These additional facilities, officials hope, will encourage passengers to use the second entry.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:41 am

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/21/stories/2008062155371500.htm

It can offer a host of mission critical applications

Provide Internet access on running trains

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways will soon have its own state-of-the-art communication network as it has signed a contract with global provider of satellite broadband services and managed network services – Hughes – to set up its first dedicated VSAT communication hub.

The VSAT hub (very small aperture terminal, a two-way communication network between a satellite and earth station) would allow the Indian Railways to not only offer a host of mission critical applications but also provide Internet access on running trains.

“Through our own VSAT hub, we will be able to offer applications and services like disaster communication system, accident relief train (ART), unreserved ticketing system (UTS) and freight operating information system (FOIS) in remote locations. The VSAT network would also help railways internet access on running trains, trial for which is already on in one of the trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad,” said a senior Railway Board official.

Dedicated hub

The commissioning of the dedicated VSAT hub will allow Indian Railways to connect 1,000 locations across 19 States and give voice and data connectivity for their services at remotely located stations where fixed and mobile network of telecom operators have not reached so far.

According to Hughes India assistant vice-president (marketing) K. Krishna: “We have been working with the Indian Railways on various communication projects for the last two years. Their decision to partner with us as they embark to set up a dedicated VSAT hub for Indian Railways validates their confidence in our services and the efficacy of satellite as a medium of choice to run mission critical and consumer facing applications across the length and breadth of the country.”

Disaster communication system and UTS terminals were very critical applications for railways. Once successful, this would help railways in proliferating UTS terminals to remote areas and city centres as well as quick establishment of communication system at disaster management site, he said.

For disaster management, railways had already planned trackable Hughes VSAT terminals that would allow quick tracking and establishment of communication at accident sites in less than 15-20 minutes.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:17 am

http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20080630/1053/tnl-rly-projects-not-poised-for-delivery_1.html

Sun, Jun 29 12:55 PM

The Planning Commission has raised doubts as to whether the Railways
would be able to develop 26 stations into world-class stations saying
that partnership with foreign players would not be of much help as
adequate ground work had not been done. Railways had identified 26
stations for modernization as part of Railways' plans to attract
private investment worth Rs 25,000 crore in this financial year.

In all, railways was looking at Rs one lakh crore of private
investment in the 11th Plan. However, a recent review at the
Committee on Infrastructure (COI), it was felt that the plan of
railways to develop world-class stations is not poised for delivery.

"So far only charts have been prepared and work is going on at a very
slow pace," a commission official said. The railway board officials
told Planning Commission Deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia
last week that agreements had been signed with Germany and China to
develop world-class railway stations in Chandigarh, Bhubneshwar,
Jaipur and Bangalore.

"The work is expected to start by the end of this year," an official
said. India will utilise Chinese expertise to reconstruct the
Bhubaneswar and Bangalore railway stations.

A team from China recently visited India to gain first-hand knowledge
of their current state. "We have sought the expertise of Chinese
railway and German railway with whom we have MoUs to develop four
stations," said a top Railway Board official.

Germany will develop the other two. Railways also told the COI that
it was also looking at foreign collaborators for three stations -
Agra, Jaipur and Amritsar.

The commission, however, wanted to know whether these bi-laterals
would be of any help. But the process for bi-lateral cooperation has
been held up because not many foreign investors have shown interest,
an official said.

Modernisation of New Delhi station is behind schedule with the
Planning Commission assessing that the process is getting derailed.
Besides them, railways have carried out preparatory work to develop
stations at Patna, Mumbai and Secunderabad to world-class level.

"Feasibility studies are being done," an official said. Work for an
elevated corridor between Churchgate and Virar in Mumbai has started
with identification of technical consultants.

"Request for qualifications would be done by September and the
financial bids would be invited by December so that construction can
start by early next year," a railway official said.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:45 am

http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=806290165&cat=&n_date=20080629

Agartala | Sunday, Jun 29 2008

After 44 years of persuasion, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)
today successfully brought a train engine to Tripura's capital city,
travelling through a 1,856-metre tunnel in Atharamura hill range.

NFR officials said it was a trial run, a day before the schedule to
connect Agartala, the second capital city of the Northeast after
Guwahati, with rest of the country. The officials said the commercial
run was expected to be launched on August 15, as the train engine had
reached its destination safely following the Railway Safety
Commission's clearance certificate to pave the way for the rail
authorities and both the Centre and state government fixed the date
for ceremonial proceedings.

During the trial run a group of senior railway officials inspected
the final stage of the project to receive its first passenger
locomotive engine, the officials said, adding that the 109 km-long
link took 15 years to build. Chief Engineer of the project in Tripura
F S Mina informed that a train engine had first reached Tripura in
1964 when the railway was extended to the state's northern business
hub, Dharmanagar, and subsequently it was extended further to
Kumarghat. ''It has taken 40 years since then to connect Agartala by
rail but after Indian Railways extends its line up to Sabroom, the
southernmost point of Tripura would be very easy to connect with the
Chittagong international port in Bangladesh, which is just 75 km from
there,'' Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said.

He underlined that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had declared the
railway link in Tripura a national project, and the work to build the
110 km Agartala-Sabroom line would begin by January. The railway
extension project would, on completion, be worth Rs 800 crore, though
the budgetary allocation is Rs 879 crore and assured that the rail
path is metre gauge with a provision to convert it into broad gauge
at the earliest.

Approximately 1,200 acres of land would be required for the Rs 813
crore project to connect Tripura's southern border town Sabroom by
rail, railway sources added.

The railway track-laying work between Kumarghat and Agartala claimed
36 lives, including railway workers and security forces guarding the
tracks, in 28 militant strikes in the past two decades while 67
people were kidnapped from the site during the period.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:45 am

http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=806290430&cat=&n_date=20080629

Agartala | June 29, 2008 7:35:06 PM IST

Agartala, the capital city of Tripura, Sunday came up as the newest
point on the map of the Indian Railways in the country's northeast.

A locomotive of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) chugged into the
Agartala railway station, five km from the heart of the capital city,
Sunday afternoon with thousands of people cheering and blowing conch
shells.

The foundation stone for the 119-km Kumarghat-Agartala railway
project was laid in 1996 by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

Routine rail services to Agartala would start by mid-August after
clearance from the railway safety commissioner, said P. Shivkumar,
general manager (construction) of NFR.

Agartala is the second capital city in the northeast to be connected
to the country's extensive railway network. Assam's Guwahati was the
only north-eastern capital on the railway map. After Dispur was
constructed as Assam's new capital complex, Guwahati lost its former
status but it remains a major city of the state.

"It took more than four decades to connect the capital city after
northern Tripura's business hub Dharmanagar, 200 km from here, came
on the railway map in 1964," said Tripura Transport Minister Manik
Dey.

"The NFR has so far spent Rs.8 billion ($190 million) to connect
Agartala by rail by making three big tunnels through the Longtharai
Valley, Baramura and Atharamura Hills in Dhalai and West Tripura
districts," said NFR deputy chief engineer F.S. Meena.

The 1,962-metre Longtharai tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in
eastern India.

According to railway chief engineer B. Chowdhury, the NFR would also
start work to lay a new track for the 110-km Agartala-Sabroom line by
January next year after completing the final survey.

He said the railways would soon call bids from the construction
companies.

Approximately 1,200 acres would be required for the Rs.8.13 billion
project to connect Tripura's southernmost border town Sabroom by rail.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said: "After the Indian Railways
extends its line up to Sabroom, it would be very easy to connect with
the Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh, which is
just 75 km from there."

A small bridge over river Feni can connect Sabroom and Khagrachari,
across the border in Bangladesh, to open a second railway link
between the two neighbours after the Kolkata-Dhaka rail service,
which started April 14 this year after a gap of 43 years.

"After extending the railway line to Sabroom, Tripura and the entire
northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia very easily," the chief
minister told IANS.

"The Bangladesh government is actively considering New Delhi's
proposal to allow India to use Chittagong international port for easy
communications between the rest of India and north-eastern states and
Southeast Asian countries," Sudhakar Dalela, councillor (trade and
commerce) of the Indian high commission in Dhaka, said here recently.

Meanwhile, the NFR has already conducted a survey to connect Agartala
with Akhaurah railway station in Bangladesh.

The distance between the newly constructed Agartala railway station
and Akhaurah railway station, an important rail junction in
Bangladesh, is just five kilometres.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:23 am

Manali-Leh railway link soon
Baldev S Chauhan& Bijith R / Shimla/New Delhi July 06, 2008, 0:03 IST

In a major move to push tourism in the hill states and counter Chinese expansion in the Tibetan region, the Railways ministry has prepared a blueprint to set up an ambitious 480 kilometre Manali - Leh railway line link criss-crossing the treacherous mountains in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The project according to experts will cost over Rs 16,000 crore and the ministry is already preparing a detail survey plan for the project.

A top level government meeting took place in Delhi recently to discuss the survey and other modalities of the project. The distance, according to the plan, will be traversed in around ten hours.

A senior Railway Ministry official said, "A detailed survey plan for the proposed Manali-Leh railway line has been prepared and is under the active consideration of the Railway Board. The expenditure for the survey will be shared jointly by the Himachal Pradesh government and the centre."

The plan is to lay a broad gauge railway track between Jogindernagar and Manali via Mandi and extend it 480 kilometre further to Leh via the Rohtang pass and beyond.

The security concerns are a key reason for building the train line.

"With China building the Beijing-Lhasa railway track, it is critical for India to respond and build the Manali-Leh route both from the security and tourism point of view of India," said Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister, Himachal Pradesh.

The proposed railway project is strategically important for India as experts opine that a railway line will be a viable transport alternative in extreme weather conditions.

At present, the main source of connectivity to the border areas is either through the road or air, which frequently gets affected during adverse weather conditions.

Manali - Leh highway which connects tribal areas of Lahaul, Udaipur, Pangi and Ladakh with the rest of the country and goes through the highest mountain passes in the world, remains closed down during the entire winter season.

A rail link will definitely serve India's defence purpose at a time the Chinese are flexing their muscles at our backyard, said an industry expert.

Apart from serving the India's defence interest, the proposed project will provide a fillip to the tourism industry that is one of the major source of revenue generation for the state of Himachal Pradesh.

"I have just returned from Leh and the response I received from the people of Ladakh has been tremendous. The private sector is already showing a keen interest in building this railway track," Dhumal said.

A senior executive of an infrastructure company undertaking railway projects said that the cost of laying a railway track at such a high altitude will be more than double the cost of laying a normal railway track.

Because of the difficult terrain, the movement of vehicles carrying raw materials and other equipment for the project will become costlier.

Moreover, a large amount of tunnelling work will have to be undertaken along the proposed route.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:07 am

The Ministry of Railways has approved Rs2·3bn plans for the construction of a 88 km link between Sonipat and Jind by late 2011.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:58 am

http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=8387&cid=2

MARGAO, AUG 15 -- Indian Railways has proposed to lay a double rail line from Hospet to Vasco at a whopping cost of Rs 3000 crore, which is expected to not only give a big boost to freight traffic from the Mormugao Port Trust to the hinterland, but also bring in tourists from the nook and corner of the country by this cheap mode of transport.
Addressing newsmen, Chairman of the Railway Board, K C Jena has said the proposal has been forwarded to the Planning Commission for approval. “This is a mega project, which will give boost not just freight traffic from the MPT to the country’s hinterland but will help introduce more long distance passenger lines on the line, linking Goa to various parts of the country”, he said, while addressing newsmen here this evening after laying the foundation stone for a Rs 7 crore holiday home at Margao for Indian Railway employees. The holiday home is expected to be complete within 24 months.
The Hospet-Vasco line is a single line hampering fast movement of both freight and passenger trains. As far as the freight is concerned, trains transport iron ore to the MPT for export, and carry imported cooking coal from the port.

As far as passenger trains are concerned, the Railway Board chairman said only three long-distance trains are running on the line and though there’s a huge demand for additional long-distance trains, it cannot be met for want of a double line. “The proposal has been submitted to the Planning Commission for approval. We are awaiting the response. The railways intend to execute the project with loan from the Asian Development Bank”, he added.

Jena said Indians Railway is laying emphasis on developing and expanding the infrastructure, adding “In the next five years, we will spend Rs 75 crores on high density routes to develop the infrastructure's.
Laying stress on freight traffic, Jena said the railways are going ahead with the eastern and Western freight corridors.
He, however, said the Indian Railways do not certainly want to loose focus on passenger traffic.
He said the Indian railway has plans to have five high speed corridors, adding that a consultant will study the feasibility of such a corridor on the Amritsar-Delhi-Amritsar section. Other high speed corridors identified is Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Pune, Chennai-Secundarabad and Chennai-Bangalore-Ernakulam section.
He, however, said the railways have no plan to take up these projects on its own and disclosed plans to undertake the projects on the public private partnership model.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:56 am

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Games_in_sight_New_Delhi_station_gets_ready/articleshow/3382845.cms

20 Aug 2008, 0553 hrs IST

NEW DELHI: To enhance the capacity of New Delhi railway station
before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Northern Railway has decided to
remodel and restructure the station and the yard. The work,
including installation of the new route relay interlocking panel
(NRRI) that will facilitate 1278 routes with automatic signalling
system, will start next month. For the purpose, the station will
remain non-interlocked from September 6 to September 14 and all
trains movement during this period will be handled manually.

Rajiv Saxena, chief spokesperson of Northern Railway, said once
operational, the new interlocking system will the largest in India.
It will replace the existing British system of route relay
interlocking that handles 690 routes. There will be additions and
alterations on 125 routes at the Old Delhi Junction, he said.

According to railway officials, after the remodelling work the
station will be able to handle 33% more load. "The bottleneck in
Sadar area would be removed and there will be six lines in place of
the existing three at Sadar Bazar end of New Delhi station making an
independent corridor for reception and dispatch of trains to and
from Old Delhi junction, Kishanganj, Subzi Mandi and Sarai Rohilla
stations," said Saxena. He said this will allow certain trains to
pass through New Delhi station without waiting for clearance from
platforms.

Also, after the work there will be six lines between New Delhi and
Tilak Bridge in place of four. Officials also said four more
platforms will added to the existing 12 platforms at the station.

In view the work, 62 trains will be cancelled, 126 trains will be
terminated short of their final destination and 50 trains will be
diverted to run on alternative routes and will use railways stations
at Old Delhi, Sarai Rohilla and Hazrat Nizamuddin from September 5
to September 15.

Among the major trains that will be affected are Jammu Tawi
Rajdhani, Ajmer Shatabdi, Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, Jan Shatabdi
Express, Ranchi Rajdhani, Navyug Express, Patna Garib Rath, Howrah
Express, Grand Trunk Express, Puri Express and Tamil Nadu Express

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Tonymercury · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:12 am

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_drops_plans_for_worlds_highest_bridge/articleshow/3473521.cms

12 Sep 2008, 0418 hrs IST

NEW DELHI: In a bid to undo a Himalayan blunder, the government has
scrapped the four-year-old project of building the world's highest
bridge on Chenab (359 metres), a crucial part of the first railway
line to Kashmir. The delay in cancelling the bridge, which was
supposed to be built for Rs 512 crore, may cost it dearly as the
government is already facing claims of Rs 300 crore from an
international consortium involved in the project.

The abandonment of the bridge follows a belated discovery that it is
unfeasible as the gorge in a high-relief mountainous region is not
stable enough to bear the load of the mega steel arch.

In a letter dated September 4, the railway board announced "all
existing contracts" with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)
for a 34-km stretch of the railway link between Jammu and Kashmir,
which includes the construction of the Chenab mega arch bridge, have
been "short closed" (meaning, terminated before completion of work).

As a corollary, the board's decision puts a stop to the sub-contract
signed by KRCL in 2004 with the international consortium, Ultra-
Afcons-VSL, to design and build the Chenab bridge within 30 months.
Though the stipulated period for the execution of the project lapsed
last year, the consortium is yet to build even the foundation in the
mountain slope on either side of the river as Northern Railways, in
view of the treacherous geological conditions, could not clear any
of its plans for the bridge.

In a tacit reference to the claims of Rs 300 crore submitted by the
consortium for the manpower and machinery idling at the site, the
board said, "A proper record of material, unfinished work abandoned
at the site shall be kept for examining legitimate claims."

The decision to scrap the bridge was taken by the board's member
(engineering) S K Vij as a sequel to an order passed by him on July
14 suspending all works on the existing alignment of the entire 125
km track between Katra and Banihal skirting the mountains at
altitudes ranging from 800 to 1,700 metres.

The suspension was meant to pave the way for a modified alignment
proposed in November 2007 by Northern Railways chief engineer Alok
Verma.

The proposed alignment reduces the route length from 125 to 70 km as
it's based on the new technology of tunnelling through mountains
insulating the rail track from landslide-prone slopes.

It also offers the advantage of a double line even as it reduces the
cost of the project: while the present alignment with a single tract
is estimated to cost Rs 7,300 crore, the proposed one is calculated
to incur an expenditure of Rs 6,500 crore over five years.

With the scrapping of the Chenab bridge in the existing alignment,
the adoption of the modified alignment seems inevitable.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:50 am

Super-fast trains for industrial corridor
Bijith R / New Delhi October 03, 2008, 0:25 IST
The rail links will come up at an investment of over Rs 20,000 crore.

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) has identified four “early bird” rail infrastructure projects, including a high-speed rail link between Delhi and Jaipur, at an investment of over Rs 20,000 crore. All these projects will be undertaken in the next six to 12 months through public-private partnership.

The key projects include a 300-km rail link between Delhi and Jaipur up to the proposed airport at Shivdaspur in Rajasthan at an estimated investment of Rs 10,000 crore; a 45-km Metro rail system between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore; a 15-km Metro rail link connecting IGI Airport in New Delhi to Hero Honda Chowk in Haryana at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore; and a 25-km Metro rail system between Noida and Greater Noida at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.

DMICDC was set up to oversee the construction of the industrial corridor between Delhi and Mumbai that would include industrial estates, townships, and transport and logistical hubs.

Besides these projects, the corporation is planning three regional rail links — Pune-Nashik in Maharashtra, Palwal-Rewari in Haryana and Palwal in Haryana to Khurja in Uttar Pradesh. However, these proposals are yet to be finalised.

The link between Delhi and Jaipur will have trains running at a minimum speed limit of 250 kilometres per hour, which means they will cover the distance in slightly over an hour. The link is aimed at decongesting Delhi and allowing other areas to grow with better connectivity.

“We have identified a few standalone and viable infrastructure projects to develop them as model initiatives for capitalising on the existing growth potential in these areas and mobilise global investments in the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project,” said a senior government official.

To implement these projects, DMICDC is in the process of signing memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with six states — Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. All these states have already nominated their nodal agencies that would work with DMICDC and various other central and state government agencies to implement these projects.

The rail infrastructure projects are critical for the success of the industrial corridor since such corridors are generally built along major transport arteries like railways, highways, airports and ports.

A senior DMICDC official said: “We are in the process of appointing consultants who will prepare a detailed master plan for the project. The plan will identify the missing infrastructure links for the industrial corridor and suggest more such projects.”

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Tonymercury · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:36 am

Source: Indian express (yesterday's and today's)

1. Leh-Manali line: Ministry of railways has initiated a move to get a
special feasibility study done for this strategic project.
2. Jiribhum-Imphal new line (97.9 km, target year of completion: Mar 2014.
3. Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam, Badarpur-Kumarghat (BG) (367 kms) Mar 2011.
4.Bogibeel bridge and linking lines (73 kms) Mar 2012
5.Rangia- Mukongsleek gauge conversion 512 kms
6.Dimapur-Kohima: 88 kms mar 2014.
7.Azra-Bymihat(30 km, mar 2012)
8.Bhairabhi-Sairang (51.38 km, mar 2015)
9.Agartala-Sabroon (110 km, mar 2014)
10: Garhwal railway: Hrishikesh to Karnaprayag 126 km, of which 80% of
pre-feasibility survey was done way back in 2000.
11. Dehradun-Herbatpur-Nayagaon-Kalsi 50 km, railway board ready to
grant its approval soon.

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Tonymercury · Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:38 am

http://www.bombaynews.net/story/426854

Thursday 6th November, 2008 (IANS)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Thursday approved the
construction of a new 52.7-km broad gauge line from Sivok to Rangpo
in Sikkim on an investment of Rs.13.39 billion.

Approved as a 'national project', 75 percent of its cost will be
provided by the finance ministry, with the remaining amount coming
from the gross budgetary support for the railways.

'Rangpo is a township in Sikkim on the border of West Bengal. The
new broad gauge line will provide rail connectivity to Sikkim and it
would make possible direct movement of freight and passengers from
this region to other parts of the country,' an official statement
said.

'The work on the project is expected to commence in 2008-09 and is
expected to be completed by 2015-16 depending upon the availability
of resources,' the statement added.

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