Rs 400cr circular railway plan for Ahmedabad cleared

Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has approved the proposed Rs 400 crore circular railway project in Ahmedabad city, which aims at optimum utilisation of the existing rail corridors in the Ahmedabad area.

During his visit to the city on Sunday, Nitish Kumar, in principle approved the project, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) officials said on Tuesday.

The project report was prepared by V D Gupta, retired general manager, Western Railway, for the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority.

"AUDA wants to strengthen the existing rail network, so that it can cater to the city's increasing transportation needs. Ahmedabad station is surrounded by heavily crowded roads. As a result of this, the road traffic in the area is very slow. On the other hand, the Sabarmati station is surrounded by good roads and has little passenger traffic due to inadequate passenger amenities. We want to balance the two by diverting the rail traffic to the Sabarmati station," said Surendra Patel, chairman, AUDA.

The report said the project will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will cost about Rs 145 crore, which will improve the railway traffic in the Vatva-Ahmedabad-Sabarmati-Khodiyar section, which is one of the most congested segment.

The study, which is specific to the existing rail corridors, showed that all rail traffic finally converges at the Vatva-Ahmedabad-sabarmati-Khodiyar section.

Any increase in the number of trains in any section will finally affect Ahmedabad and Sabarmati stations, the report said.

The need for strengthening the railway corridors arose due to the new ports coming up in Saurashtra and Kutch and any introduction of new trains will affect this section as this section is the main artery of the entire rail system in Ahmedabad area.

It is already catering to much more traffic over its capacity and as a result is causing congestion and delays on both the sides, towards Vadodara and Delhi, the report said.

The Railways has planned to implement some short-term solution, which includes conversion of one out of two metre gauge lines between Sabarmati and Khyodiyar to broad gauge. This will bring some relief but not provide a long-term solution, the report said.

The study suggested that at least 70 extra trains in each direction per day need to run, if it has to assist the city in solving the transport problems.

At present, there are two tracks between Vatava and Sabarmati and a single broad gauge track between Chandlodiya and Khodiyar.

The study showed that so many additional trains cannot run unless four lines are provided between Sabarmati and Khodiyar.

Ahmedabad station will not be able to handle the increasing traffic and a new station at Sabarmati is essential to cater to the additional traffic.

Of the Rs 145 crore estimated, Rs 82 crore will be spend on civil engineering, Rs 30 crore on electricals, Rs 26.5 crore on signalling, Rs six crore on mechanical and Rs one crore on other departments. The first phase of the work is expected to be completed within four years.

The total savings of the project is estimated as Rs 31.73 crore. And annual cost of service at Rs 8.07 crore, resulting in a net savings of Rs 23.66 crore and a 16.3 per cent rate of return.

The second phase of the project is expected to cost Rs 250 crore and will improve the railway traffic in the Sabarmati-Naroda section at a cost of Rs 45 crore.

The Sabarmati-Sanathal section will cost Rs 120 crore, Samarmati-Shilaj section Rs 17 crore, Khodiyar-Gandhinagar section Rs 41 crore and Vatva-Kalol section Rs 27 crore.