The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved two railway expansion projects worth $24,815 crores. The projects include construction of Ghaziabad-Sitapur and Rajahmundry (Nidadavulu)-Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) Lines 3 and 4.
The Ghaziabad-Sitapur project covers a distance of 403 km at an estimated cost $Rs 14,926 crore Rajahmundry (Nidadavulu) – Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) project covers a distance of 198 km $Rs 9,889 crore.
The Ghaziabad-Sitapur project is expected to be completed within four years and includes the development of six new stations: New Hapur, New Moradabad, New Rampur, New Bareilly, New Shahjahanpur and New Sitapur. The road passes through multiple districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad, Hapur, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi and Sitapur.
The project will support major industrial centers along the route and provide additional freight traffic amounting to 36 million tons annually. It will also reduce logistics costs $2,877 crore annually, generating 274 lakh human days of labour, and resulting in carbon savings equivalent to planting 5 crore trees.
The Rajahmundry (Nidadavulu)-Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) project has a five-year timeline and includes the construction of a 4.3 km railway bridge over the Godavari river.
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This is also part of the high-density Howrah-Chennai network and connects major ports, including Kakinada, Machilipatnam and Gangavaram.
The project will improve logistics efficiency, reduce transportation costs, and facilitate faster movement of goods between ports and industrial centers. It will also meet the needs of key sectors such as thermal power, cement and steel.
The expansion is expected to enable an additional freight movement of 29 million tons annually, generate 135,000 human man-days, reduce emissions equivalent to planting about 2 crore trees, in addition to saving annual logistics costs of $ $1,151 Crores.
