Guwahati, July 24: Meghalaya’s Mendipathar railway station will be among the 60 railway stations to be developed as Amrit Stations, Union Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Mendipathar is the only railway station in Meghalaya which is in operation since 2014.
Amrit Bharat Station scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.
The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, ‘Roof Plazas’ as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.
Other railway stations to be developed as Amrit stations are: Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh), Imphal (Manipur), Sairang (Mizoram), Dimapur (Nagaland), Rangpo (Sikkim) Agartala, Dharmanagar, Kumarghat and Udaipu (Tripura).
50 stations will be developed in Assam- Amguri, Arunachal, Chaparmukh, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Diphu, Duliajan, Fakiragram Jn., Gauripur, Gohpur, Golaghat, Gosai gaon hat, Guwahati, Haibargaon, Harmuti, Hojai, Jagi Road, Jorhat Town, Kamakhya Jn, Kokrajhar, Lanka, Ledo, Lumding Jn, Majbat, Makum Jn, Margherita, Mariani Jn, Murkongselek, Naharkatiya, Nalbari, Namrup, Narangi, New Bongaigaon Jn, New Haflong, New Karimganj Jn, New Tinsukia Jn, North Lakhimpur, Pathshala, Rangapara North Jn, Rangiya Jn, Sarupathar, Sibsagar Town, Silapathar, Silchar, Simaluguri, Tangla, Tinsukia, Udalguri and Viswanath Chariali.
Addressing a virtual press conference for the media persons from the northeastern region on Wednesday, Vaishnaw said the Union Budget has allocated Rs 10,376 crore for various railway projects in northeastern states which is a 5 times increase from the annual average budget outlay during 2009-14, Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Vaishnaw said Rs 74,972 crore have already been allocated for 18 ongoing projects involving new tracks of 1,368 km.
Vaishnaw highlighted the government’s commitment to modernizing the rail network and ensuring a rapid pace of expansion of railway tracks in the northeastern region in line with the Act East Policy.
Vaishnaw also expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and Union finance minister for the record allocation of Rs 2,62,200 crore as capital expenditure for railways.
Highlighting the key features of the railway budget for Northeast,Vaishnaw said the budget outlay has been increased to Rs 10,376 crore for the region in this year’s budget.
“173 km of new tracks per year (average) during 2014-24 period have been allocated as compared to only 67 km per year during 2009-14. The government also increased the electrification of 142 km of tracks per year (average) during 2014-24. This figure was NIL during 2009-2014,” Vaishnaw said.
The Union minister emphasized the government’s focus on making Indian Railways a world-class transportation network, while also promoting economic growth and job creation.
Northeast Frontier Railway general manager Chetan Shrivastava said adequate funds have been allotted for all infrastructure & safety-related works as compared to previous years.
Shrivastava announced that the electrification of 921 RKM was done during 2023-24. 1573 RKM of tracks are targeted to be electrified during 2024-25. This will complete the electrification of all the NE. Rs 694.69 crore has been allocated for electrification works over NF Railway.
“This year’s budget allocation shows unprecedented growth in several segments for NF Railway. Around 8378.53 crores have been allocated for a new line and doubling projects. Keeping safety and operations on top priority, Rs 1305.07 crore have been allocated for track renewal works and bridge works and Rs 170 crore for signalling & telecom works. Rs 537 crore has been allocated to improve passenger amenities in stations premises,” he added.
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