Railways project to herald considerable progress: Minister

The government's major initiatives in the Railways, including a dedicated freight corridor, in addition to the emphasis on infrastructure development and passenger services, would herald considerable progress in the coming years, union minister Rajen Gohain said Wednesday.

"The work on the dedicated freight corridor is going on at great speed", he said. The Minister of state for Railways was speaking after initiating a host of rail development works in Telangana from the Secunderabad railway station here. "In Indian Railways, all over the country, this kind of developmental change is going on continuously," he said.

Saying that the Railways would witness a positive change in the coming years in view of the development initiatives taken by the government, he hoped that the Railways would be the preferred mode of transportation for people.

On the occasion, the Minister flagged off the inaugural service of Karimnagar-LTT (Mumbai) Weekly Express (extended from Nizamabad to Karimnagar) via remote link. He also laid the foundation stone for the 202 km long third railway Line in the Kazipet-Kondapalli Section, which connects Vijayawada in a similar manner The estimated cost of the project is over Rs 1,600 crore.

Gohain also inaugurated the Third Railway Line in Manchiryal-Peddampet Section via remote link. The other works include laying the foundation stone for facilities, including new Foot Over Bridges, an extension of Foot Over Bridges, lifts, and escalators at different railway stations in the state. In Telangana, Gohain said special emphasis has been laid on completing long pending projects to strengthen the infrastructure.

He said Rs 1,813 crore has been allocated for rail development in Telangana in the 2018-19 budget, which is eight times higher than the allocations in 2014-15. The Minister assured that the ongoing MMTS (Multi-Modal Transport System) PhaseII project would get due attention. BJP MP and former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya requested that work on the MMTS Phase 2 be expedited.

He also said the state government should make its contribution for the project. South Central Railway General Manager V K Yadav said the railway zone would not have any unmanned level crossing gates in October.

(With inputs from agencies.)