Railway hastens ₹1,769-cr track doubling project

The Railway ministry has cleared doubling of the Rajpura-Bathinda railway track involving an investment of ₹1,769 crore for which the construction work has been awarded to the Rail Vikas Nigam. The project was cleared by the Railway Board in August 2018 but it remained in limbo for various reasons. The tenders for all the works have been awarded. The 23 stations including 4 halt stations will have high-level platforms and foot over bridges (FOBs). The process of land acquisition is also being carried out at seven stations. The railway officials said the Rajpura-Bathinda is a very important section because of its major freight sidings and also because of the presence of the Thermal Power Plant at Lehra Mohabbat, military cantonment at Bathinda, fertilizer plant at Bathinda and National Sports Institute at Patiala. The doubling will ease congestion of the line and improve mobility. Work has already started and all safety precautions are being taken such as the erection of fencing along the track and improving the safety of existing level crossings and subways.