Cabinet Approves Sitapur-Ghaziabad And Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam Railway Lines Expansion; Key Details

Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday approved two railway expansion projects worth Rs 24,815 crore in a major connectivity boost for Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

The newly approved projects include the construction of the third and fourth lines on the Ghaziabad-Sitapur route and the third and fourth lines on the Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu)–Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) route.

Ghaziaad-Sitapur expansion

The Ghaziabad-Sitapur project covers a distance of 403 km and will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 14,926 crore. The project is expected to be completed in four years.

As part of the project, six railway stations will be developed: New Hapur, New Moradabad, New Rampur, New Bareilly, New Shahjahanpur and New Sitapur.

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The route passes through multiple stations in Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad, Hapur, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri's Maigalganj, Hardoi, Sandeela, Balamau and Sitapur.

The Ghaziabad-Sitapur project will support key industrial hubs along the 403 km route. It will enable an additional freight traffic of 36 million tonnes per year.

The expansion of the route to four lines would reduce logistics costs by Rs 2,877 crore annually, generating 274 lakh human-days of employment. It will result in carbon savings equivalent to planting 5 crore trees.

Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu)-Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) expansion

The Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu)-Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) project covers a distance of 198 km and will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 9,889 crore.

The project includes the construction of a 4.3 km railway bridge over the Godavari River. The stretch is a part of the Howrah-Chennai high-density network that connects major ports like Kakinada, Machilipatnam and Gangavaram.

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Once completed, the project will improve logistics efficiency, thereby reducing transportation costs, along with facilitating faster cargo movement between ports and industrial hubs.

Apart from ports, the project will also cater to key sectors such as thermal power, cement and steel.

The Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam expansion is estimated to enable an additional freight traffic of 29 million tonnes per year and 135 lakh human-days of employment. It also aims to reduce emissions equivalent to planting around 2 crore trees and save the annual logistics cost of Rs 1,151 crore.