New Delhi. Indian Railways has laid tracks at an average rate of 7.41 kilometers per day in the last 10 years, which includes construction of new lines as well as doubling, tripling and gauge conversion of existing lines. Railways gave this information in response to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. According to the data provided by the ministry, it laid a total of 27057.7 km of railway tracks in the 10 years from 2014-15 to 2023-24, which included construction of new lines, doubling and tripling of existing lines and gauge conversion (converting narrow gauge lines). Converting to larger line) is included.
Chandrashekhar Gaur, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, who filed the application, said, “When I calculated the figures, it came to light that in 10 years, the work of laying tracks was done at an average rate of about 7.41 kilometers per day.” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had recently said in a press conference that Indian Railways is currently laying new tracks at the rate of about 15 kilometers every day. Vaishnav said in a press conference at Rail Bhawan on February 2, 2024, “Last year, the Railways laid 5,200 kilometers of new tracks, which is equal to the entire network of Switzerland. This year we are adding 5,500 more kilometres. “In 2014, the rate was four kilometers per day and now we are laying new tracks at the rate of about 15 kilometers per day.”
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3,901 KM tracks to be laid in 2022-23
According to the response to the RTI application, in 2022-23, the Railways laid a total of 3,901 km of tracks, which included 473 km of new line, doubling of 3185.53 km and gauge conversion of 242.2 km. These figures have not been updated yet on the website of Indian Railways because till now the data till 2021-22 is visible on it. Officials say that 2022-23 can be seen as an unprecedented year for the Railways.
Rapidly growing rail network…
A railway official involved in infrastructure projects said, “In July 2021, Ashwini Vaishnav was given the charge of the Railway Ministry and under his leadership, the Railways achieved a historic feat by laying 3,901 km of tracks, which is about 10.68 km per day. It was unprecedented.” Gaur said that despite making significant progress, the Railways failed to maintain its pace as the total track laying work was 3,901 km in 2022-23 which reduced to 2,966 km in 2023-24 and this is 8.12 km per day.
4838.47 KM new line in 10 years…
Gaur said that the work of laying new lines of Railways is slow because in the last ten years, 4838.47 kilometers of new lines were laid at an average rate of 1.32 kilometers per day. Railways’ best performance in terms of laying new tracks was in 2016-17 when it laid 953 kilometers of new tracks and its average was about 2.61 kilometers per day. He said, “Construction of more new lines indicates that more new areas have come under the rail network, while doubling and tripling will reduce over-utilization of existing tracks and improve train punctuality while ensuring passenger safety. Good for.”
Tags: Indian railway, Indian Railway news, Ministry of Railways, Railway News
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 8, 2024, 20:46 IST