Indian Railways has lined up a slew of projects worth over ₹1,15,000 crore to facilitate the country's mobility and create additional capacity for running more passenger and freight trains on its network. Railway authorities identified a total of 58 supercritical projects, covering a total length of 3,750 km, worth ₹39,663 crore, and 68 critical projects, with a total length of 6,913 km costing ₹75,736 crore. Out of the 58 supercritical projects, 27 projects will be completed by the end of this year, while the remaining two will be commissioned by March next year. Last year, 29 supercritical railway projects, covering a length of 1,044 km worth ₹11,588 crore, were commissioned, even amid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The projects are categorised as 'critical' and 'supercritical' based upon the traffic density, the type of commodity moved, and the importance of route from the strategic standpoint. A total of 58 projects - requiring an urgent expansion including the ones which are already progressing well at an investment of over 60 per cent, have been categorized as 'super critical' projects. Whereas, a total of 68 projects - requiring completion in the next stage have been defined as critical projects. The supercritical projects are those of multi-tracking, which means doubling the third line or fourth line on the very busy routes.
