Cabinet clears ₹9,450 crore multi-tracking rail projects to add 410 km network

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved four multi-tracking railway projects worth around ₹9,450 crore across West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The projects, which are scheduled to be completed by 2030-31, will add about 410 km to the existing railway network and cover eight districts, according to an official statement.

The approved projects include the 173-km fourth line between Kharagpur and Bhadrak (Ranital) at a cost of ₹3,352 crore; the 75-km fourth line between Bhadrak and Haridaspur in Odisha at ₹1,583 crore; the 90-km third and fourth lines between Gummidipundi and Gudur in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu at ₹2,229 crore; and the 72-km third and fourth lines between Cuttack and Paradeep (Badabandha) in Odisha at ₹2,286 crore.

Kharagpur–Bhadrak section runs via Balasore and Rupsa, and then further south towards Bhadrak. The entire route runs along the coast.

“We are now making this section between Kharagpur and Bhadrak a four-line corridor,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a Cabinet briefing.

“The traffic comes from the coal-producing areas and iron-ore-producing areas, while there is also a major flow of traffic from Howrah to Chennai, including mail, express, superfast and passenger trains.”

Vaishnaw said that work on the third line on the Bhadrak–Haridaspur section is already progressing rapidly and in several places it has already been completed.

“The fourth line will now be constructed there... To ensure that there is no disturbance to Cuttack, rail-over-rail and rail flyover structures have been designed as part of this entire project,” he added.

The projects are planned under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, with a focus on improving multi-modal connectivity and logistics efficiency through integrated planning.

The additional lines are expected to ease congestion, improve operational efficiency and enhance reliability of railway services, the statement said.

The projects will improve rail connectivity to around 6,448 villages with a combined population of about 60 lakh, it said.

They will also improve access to several tourist destinations, including Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhitarkanika National Park, Chandipur Beach, Talsari-Udaypur, Pulicat Lake, Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, Lalitgiri and temples such as Dhabaleswar, Sarala and Lord Veeraraghava Perumal.

The routes are also important for transporting coal, iron ore, cement, iron and steel, containers, automobiles and foodgrains.

The capacity augmentation is expected to generate additional freight traffic of about 76 million tonnes per annum, the government said.

It added that shifting more freight to rail, an energy-efficient mode of transport, is expected to help reduce logistics costs and oil imports by around 13 crore litres, while lowering carbon dioxide emissions by about 65 crore kg.