Better train services with freight corridor proj: Manoj Sinha

Union minister Manoj Sinha today said that trains will run on time after the completion of the dedicated freight corridor project.

"The dedicated freight corridor will be complete by 2019. Thereafter, goods trains will pass through this corridor, substantially reducing load on tracks through which currently both goods and passenger trains pass. This will enable us to run passenger trains on time as well", Sinha told reporters.

The minister of state for railways was speaking on the sidelines of inauguration of an automatic ticket vending machine and a child care centre at Allahabad Junction.

Sinha claimed, "the Modi government has been spending, on an average, Rs 1.25 lakh crore per year on various railway projects.
 

"This has been a major hike compared with the average expenditure for the five-year period preceding 2014 which was just about 45,000-46,000 crore".

He also said that the Modi government was investing in electrification and doubling of lines in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh in a big way and soon "the railway network in the state will be comparable with the best in the country".

"Sanction has been given for three fly-overs in the Allahabad-Mughalsarai section at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore.

The average sanction per year for eastern UP has gone up to Rs 5,000 crore from Rs 900-1,000 crore for the five-year period preceding 2014", Sinha, who also represents Ghazipur in the Lok Sabha, said.

"A great many projects sanctioned by the government will bring huge benefits to Allahabad. These include five under- bridges, construction of which shall be complete before the 2019 Kumbh.

A by-pass line, involving a cost of Rs 1,000 crore, has also been sanctioned. A new bridge over the Yamuna river and a satellite station in Subedarganj locality of the city are also on the cards", he added.

The minister also laid down the foundation stone for upgrade of Subedarganj railway station as a terminal.

Top officials of the North Central Railway zone, headquartered here, and Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Reoti Raman Singh were among those present on the occasion.