The East Central Railway (ECR) has got an allocation of Rs 4,614 crore in the Union Budget presented in Parliament by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 for the 2020-21 fiscal. The ECR has got this allocation for the construction of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling of tracks, safety measures and various other works being carried out at various sites in the ECR’s jurisdiction.
Giving details of the fund allocations, ECR’s chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said the ECR has got the allocations to carry out various development and modernisation plans of the railways in Bihar. “While railways has got Rs 459 crore for laying new tracks, it has got the sanction of Rs 173 crore to carry out gauge conversion work in Bihar,” he added.
ECR has been allocated Rs 580 crore to complete track renewal work as part of safety measures. “The ECR has already announced to increase the speed limit up to 130 km per hour for mail and express trains either originating or passing through Jhajha-Patna–Pt Deendayal Upadhaya Junction mainline route from April 30 this year,” Kumar said. “Railways will spend about Rs 60 crore to build road over bridges or under passes at different places in the ECR‘s jurisdiction by eliminating unmanned railway crossings,” he added.
“The Union Budget has allocated Rs 191 crore for improving safety measures in the ECR while Rs 154 crore has been allocated in the passenger amenities segment,” the official said, adding, railways will spend Rs 54 crore to complete the ongoing track doubling work.
Similarly, Rs 111 crore has been allocated to meet the requirements of various workshops running under the ECR’s jurisdiction while a sum of Rs 100 crore is allocated for the modernisation of signal and telecom work in the ECR zone.
The ECR has also got an allocation of Rs 99 crore to fulfil the needs of bridge maintenance work in its all five divisions, Kumar said. Besides, the budget has made provisions for development of a new terminal at Muzaffarpur at a cost of Rs 8 crore and Rs 50 lakh has been allocated for the development of Bhabhua Road passenger terminal.
The budget has allocated Rs 2 crore for improving traffic movements at Barauni station while new goods terminals will be developed at Chakand near Gaya (Rs 2 crore), Kataria (Rs 1 crore) and Dumroan (Rs 62 lakh). The ECR has got an allocation of Rs 10 crore for completing interlocking work at 58 big and small stations.
According to Kumar, the Dalmianagar goods depot has got Rs 38 crore for further development and the budget has also sanctioned Rs 27 crore for building a new MEMU shed at Gaya while railways will develop tourism amenities at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore at Gaya. “The budget has also made provisions for development of traffic at a cost of Rs 4.5 core at Ara and Rs 78 crore is earmarked for building new foot over bridges at different stations in the ECR as well as raising heights of platforms,” he said.