U.P. making significant progress in the area of rapid rail connectivity

Abhishek Awasthi.

Lucknow: The central government has allotted 16 times more money to Uttar Pradesh in the Rail Budget than the state got between 2009 and 2014. The Modi government has allocated Rs 17,507 crore in rail funding to Uttar Pradesh alone in 2022-2023, up from Rs 1,109 crore in 2009-14. It is worth noting that the Central Government has allocated the biggest railway budget to date, totaling Rs 2.4 lakh crore. This amount, according to the Railway Ministry, is nine times more than the budget for 2013-14. Officials said on Tuesday that construction is now underway in the state on new railway lines covering a distance of 7143 km under 83 projects totaling Rs 94,000 crores. In contrast, 55 surveys are required for the 3831 km of railway lines. One of the projects associated to the new lines connecting UP with other states is Lalitpur-Satna, Rewa-Singrauli, and Mahoba-Khajuraho, which would cost Rs 700 crores. Similarly, Rs 390 crore would be invested in the Bahraich-Shrawasti and Balrampur-Tulsipur railway lines.Besides, Rs 284 crore will be spent on building the new Energy Corridor line in 2023-2024, Rs 284 crore on the Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor (Umbrella 23-24), Rs 205 crore on Sahjanwa-Dohrighat line, Rs 200 crore on Deoband (Muzaffarnagar)-Roorkee, Rs 150 crore on Mau-Ghazipur-Tarighat lines, Rs 20 crore on the Umbrella Project, Rs 20 crore on Anand Nagar-Ghughli, Rs 10 crore on Padrauna-Kushinagar via Gorakhpur and Rs 30 lakh on Meerut-Panipat line. In the state, there is a lot of effort being done on gauge conversions. This has enabled narrow gauge lines to be converted to wide gauge.The Mathura-Vrindavan and Lucknow-Pilibhit lines via Sitapur and Lakhimpur will each receive Rs 100 crore, the Bahraich-Mailani Bypass will receive Rs 50 crore, the Indara-Dohrighat route will receive Rs 35 crore, the Pilibhit-Shahjahanpur route will receive Rs 3 crore, and the Kanpur-Kasganj-Mathura line will receive Rs 50 lakh.Recently, the state has achieved tremendous progress in the field of rapid connectivity. The state has only two airports in 2017. Nine airports are now operating, with another ten under construction. The Purvanchal Expressway in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Bundelkhand Expressway in Bundelkhand provide better connectivity. The Ganga Expressway would connect the eastern and western parts of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is connected to the national capital through the Yamuna and Agra Expressway. Apart from that, there is four-four lane road connectivity between Uttar Pradesh and its neighbouring states, as well as Nepal. There is metro rail connectivity in five cities, and a quick train trial was just completed.