With the electrification of the Nimmita – New Farakka railway section in the state of West Bengal, the Eastern Railway zone has achieved complete electrification, reports Financial Express.
This was achieved due to considerable increase in the speed of project implementation. For example, while just 710 kilometres of electrification was done by the Eastern Railway Zone in West Bengal during 2009-14, this has been increased to 1,290 kilometres between 2014-19. In the year 2019-20 alone, 153 kilometres of railway electrification was completed in West Bengal.
Under the Modi government, Indian Railways is rapidly progressing towards achieving 100 per cent electrification of all broad gauge routes by December 2023.
“An amount of Rs 19811.7 crores have been invested by Indian Railways on infrastructural works as well as Rs 710.3 crores on passenger amenities in the Eastern Railway zone during 2014-2020. During the period 2014-19, 661 kilometres of new line/double line /triple line/quadruple line was commissioned in West Bengal as compared to 335 kilometres during 2009-14,” Manoj Joshi, General Manager of Eastern Railways said.
For the financial year 2021-22, with a total plan outlay higher by 10.86 per cent compared to previous year’s fund allocation, the Eastern Railway zone has obtained a good share in budgetary allocation.
The Eastern Railway is among the 18 zones of the Indian Railways. This zone headquartered in Kolkata caters to West Bengal and some parts of Bihar and Jharkhand.