The interim Union Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday set apart over ₹55 crore for works in Mangaluru Railway Region, including ₹50 crore for line-doubling between Southern Railway’s Jokatte Railway Station and Konkan Railway Corporation’s Thokur Railway Station.
Though the distance between Jokatte and Thokur is just 1.98 km, the work becomes crucial as it connects networks of two zones, Southern Railway and Konkan Railway, said Chief Administrative Officer of SR’s Construction Organisation Shaji Zachariah. The allocation covers works being executed by both the entities in their respective jurisdiction, he said.
Mr. Zachariah said rather than the physical work of laying tracks, the ongoing work involves signalling, telecommunication, and electrification works. Modification of two yards, Jokatte and Thokur, was being done under the sanctioned work. The work was going on in full swing and was likely to be commissioned in May, he said. The exchange of trains between the two zones was expected to become hassle-free upon commissioning the work, Mr. Zachariah added.
Apart from allocating funds for Jokatte-Thokur line-doubling, the Budget has also allocated ₹4.74 crore towards completing the additional platform lines at Mangaluru Central Railway Station. While additional platforms four and five were made operational recently, provisions including platform shelters and one more footbridge were to be executed in the coming days.
The Budget has also allocated ₹1 crore towards Mangaluru Junction-Panambur patch doubling and ₹1.2 crore for Netravathi Cabin-Mangaluru Central line-doubling to complete minor pending works.
Development of the second entry towards Attavar for Mangaluru Central Station, however, did not receive much support as the Budget allocated only ₹1,000 towards the work.
In all, the Budget allocated ₹12,173 crore to Southern Railway to execute various new lines, doubling, gauge conversion, and other works.
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