New Delhi, March 10 (IANS). The government has approved several projects worth Rs 765 crore to strengthen the infrastructure and technology of Indian Railways. These projects aim to improve railway operations, increase line capacity and develop modern communication systems in critical parts of the network.
According to the Railway Ministry, these projects include upgrading the electric traction system on two busy freight and passenger corridors and expansion of optical fiber communication network in Vadodara and Mumbai Central divisions of Western Railways.
The government has approved Rs 318.07 crore to upgrade the electric traction system in the 106 km long Duvvada-Visakhapatnam-Vizianagaram section of the East Coast Railway.
The Railway Ministry said that this section will be upgraded from the existing 1×25 KV system to a modern 2×25 KV system, which will increase the freight capacity on this busy corridor, improve the speed of trains and make operations more reliable.
The ministry said the project is part of the national program included in the Railway Budget 2024-25, which aims to modernize electric traction systems across Indian Railways.
Apart from this, the government has also sanctioned Rs 259.39 crore for upgrading the electric traction system in the 126 km long Raichur–Guntakal section located in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh under Guntakal division of South Central Railway.
According to the ministry, the existing 1×25 KV system on this route will also be converted into 2×25 KV system. This route is part of the Mumbai-Chennai corridor and its upgrade will ease the movement of goods trains and increase the speed of passenger trains. This will also help in the operation of modern trains like Vande Bharat Express.
The government has also approved a project worth Rs 187.88 crore to strengthen the communication network in Vadodara and Mumbai Central divisions of Western Railways. Under this project, 4×48 core optical fiber cable (OFC) network will be established.
Under this scheme, optical fiber cable will be laid in more than 1,000 km area, which includes 692 km in Vadodara division and 308 km in Mumbai division.
The government says that this modern communication network will help in implementing the LTE based ‘Kavach’ system in the Railways. It is an indigenous train collision prevention system developed in India, which will improve both safety and operations on the railway network.
–IANS
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