Cabinet clears ₹1,168-cr Rajkot-Kanalus rail line upgrade
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved up-gradation of the Rajkot-Kanalus railway line involving ₹1,168.13 crore investment. The total length of doubling the line is 111.20 km and the project is destined to be completed in four years. The existing goods traffic handled on the section mainly consists of POL, coal, cement, fertilizer and food grains. The freight is generated from industries connected to private sidings taking off from the project route alignment. On this line, the future substantial goods traffic is projected by big industries like Reliance Petroleum, ESSAR oil and Tata Chemical. The single line Broad Gauge section between Rajkot — Kanalus has become over-saturated and there is a need for an additional parallel BG line to ease out operational working. As of now, 30 pairs of passenger/mail express trains are plying on the section and existing line capacity utilization with maintenance block is up to 157.5%. Detention to both goods and passenger traffic will be reduced considerably after doubling, which will increase the capacity and more traffic can be introduced on the system. The proposed doubling from Rajkot to Kanalus would lead to all-round development of Saurashtra region and this, in turn, will pave the way for heightened economic activities.
