Nagpur-Vijaywada corridor to get green highway
A 181-km railway line was among mega projects evaluated and recommended for implementation at the Network Planning Group (NPG) at its 41st session in New Delhi on 18 Jan 2023, including the proposed 181-km Barbil-Barsuan-Nayagarh Railway line for connecting major iron mines and boost trade in steel plans of Eastern India.
During the deliberations of the Barejadi Nandej to Sanand railway project, the NPG observed that the Ahmedabad Station has been one of the busiest stations on the Western Railway Corridor for freight movement between the Viramgam-Sabaramati-Ahmedabad-Geratpur sections.
Therefore, to achieve overall operational efficiency, the construction of a 4th line was felt essential, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 18 Jan 2023.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Railways shared that this 4th Line would feature two new stations in Barejadi Nandej to Sanand and detour all freight trains to this route while bypassing the Ahmedabad section.
The connectivity to economic nodes in the proposed alignment will help in increasing freight transportation of cement and chemicals which are largely produced in this part of the country.
The Railway officials informed that 15 new stations will be built in the vicinity of major mining sights such as Sundergarh and Keonjhar for the Barbil-Barsuan-Nayagarh line with connectivity to major rail networks such as Tata, Dhamra, Bokaro and eastern ports such as Vishakapatnam and Paradip. It is estimated that the project will see an increase in about 37% traffic in the first 5 years.
They recommended for implementation with certain suggestions to address last mile connectivity and achieving the right multimodal logistics share. These include intermodal infrastructure, creation of multi-modal logistics park facilities and other terminal infrastructure related to railways and roadways.
The meeting also deliberated on a 360-km 4 Lane Accessed Controlled Greenfield Highway as part of the Nagpur-Vijaywada corridor and another rail connectivity projects connecting Barejadi Nandej to Sanand in Gujarat, and Barbil, Barsuan and Nayagrah in Odisha.
Senior MoRTH officials shared that the 4 Lane Accessed Controlled Greenfield Highway will connect Mancherial to Vijawada. The proposed project will improve connectivity to 21 economic nodes such as Mega Food Parks, Fishing Seafood Clusters, Pharma and Medical Clusters, SEZs and Textile Clusters across the 11 districts and more than 27 social nodes across 3 States.
The proposed highway alignment is expected to increase average speed from 40 kmph to 80 kmph, reduce travel time from 17 hours to 8 hours and create 11.9 crore employment opportunities after completion. fiinews.com
