Dedicating two railway projects worth £290 million in Ahmedabad on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the double-engine BJP governments at the Centre and Gujarat have resulted in the accelerated growth of railways in the state. “When the government of double-engine works, its effect is manifold. Here one and one together assume the power of 11. With the double-engine government, the pace of work in Gujarat has not only increased, but it also got the strength to expand it,” the PM remarked at a function in Ahmedabad.
Speaking on the occasion, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that piers for the bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai have been constructed over a distance of 100km and pile has been cast over a length of 193km. “From a budgetary allocation of £58 million for Gujarat eight years ago, this year, the allocation is £474.5 million. If the the bullet and freight corridor projects are included, the allocation for Gujarat stands at £12.5 billion,” the minister said. Modi dedicated two railway projects worth over £290 million which include the Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar-Udaipur gauge converted line and Lunidhar-Jetalsar gauge converted line. The PM also flagged off new trains between Bhavnagar-Jetalsar and Asarwa-Udaipur.
“When the meter gauge line on a route is changed to broad gauge, it brings with it many new possibilities,” the PM remarked. With conversion of the 300km rail line from Asarwa to Udaipur into broad gauge, the tribal areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan will be connected to Delhi and North India. The conversion of this railway line to broad gauge has also made another route available for Ahmedabad and Delhi. Also, direct rail connectivity has been established between the tourist places of Kutch and Udaipur. The PM remarked that with the conversion of Lunidhar-Jetalsar rail line to broad gauge, the Dhasa-Jetalsar section is now fully converted into broad gauge. This rail line passes through Botad, Amreli and Rajkot districts which till now have had limited rail connectivity.
The PM said that 12 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals have also been planned to give a new dimension to the development of Western Railway. “The first Gati Shakti Multimodal Cargo Terminal has been commissioned in Vadodara circle. Soon the rest of the terminals will also be ready to provide their services”, he added.
