Ministry of Railways has sanctioned a project of doubling the Railway track

Ministry of Railways has sanctioned a project of doubling of Railway track between Hospet (Karnataka) and Vasco-da-gama(Goa) (342 km) in the year 2010-11 at a cost of Rs.2127Cr.

New Delhi: South Western Railway has conducted an online press conference on doubling of Railway track between Castlerock and Vasco da gama today. The conference has been conducted by Shri P.K. Mishra, Additional General Manager, South Western Railway. Shri P.K. Kshatriya, Chief Project Manager, RVNL; Shri S.K. Jha, Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Hubballi Division were present. Smt E. Vijaya, Deputy General Manager and Chief Public Relations Officer gave a brief introduction of the project and how improved connectivity can benefit the state of Goa. Before planning work, Environment Impact Assessment study has been got conducted by IISc, Bengaluru
 
Existing single line railway track between Castle Rock to Vasco-da-gama in the state of Goa was laid more than a century back.
 
Ministry of Railways has sanctioned a project of doubling of Railway track between Hospet (Karnataka) and Vasco-da-gama(Goa) (342 km) in the year 2010-11 at a cost of Rs.2127Cr. The project has since been nearly completed in the state of Karnataka except 10 Km between Unkal and Hubballi, which is targeted for commissioning by Mar.2021. About 7 km track between Madgoan- Majorda in the state of Goa has also been doubled. Remaining stretch of about 90 Km is in the State of Goa ,where works are awarded for doubling and are being taken up after ensuring necessary clearances.
 
Doubling of the said section will be a game changer for the state of Goa, taking the development to new heights, by giving impetus to trade and enabling easier and faster passenger movement. Existing rail network is constrained due to single line long  ghat sections severely limiting train running capacity.
 
While the average section running time in the plain section is 8 to 10 minutes, it takes 70-80 minutes to pass the critical ghat section reducing sectional capacity to 15 % of sections in plains.Moreover the ghat section is extremely landslide prone and being single line the state remains frequently cutoff during the rainy season.
 
In view of above constraints, it is imperative that double line rail connectivity be  provided  for improving mobility and all weather rail links in the region.

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