NewzVille Desk
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today inaugurated development projects worth ₹1,472 crore and flagged off the country’s first LNG-powered train from Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He also inaugurated the WAG-12 Maintenance Shed being established for the maintenance of railway locomotive engines. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Addressing the programme, Shah said that several railway projects have been initiated today in the Sabarmati division, focusing on environmental sustainability, passenger amenities and the safety of rail passengers.
He said, Satyagraha, simple living, rural development and khadi, the journey of translating all these experiments into action on the ground began from Sabarmati itself.
Amit Shah said that Sabarmati Railway Station has now undergone significant development, but in the 1980s, passengers had to walk nearly two kilometres even to find a rickshaw from the station.
He said that the Sabarmati Railway Station has witnessed a major transformation in terms of passenger amenities, safety and connectivity.
Shah said that the development works inaugurated and foundation stones laid today, at a cost of ₹1,472 crore, will prove to be highly significant for the region in the coming days.
He said that a WAG-12 Maintenance Shed has been constructed here at a cost of ₹700 crore for the maintenance of railway locomotive engines. The ‘Kavach’ train protection system has been introduced on the Sabarmati–Kalol–Sabarmati rail section at a cost of ₹48 crore to enhance safety. In addition, works have commenced for the implementation of ‘Kavach’ on the Ahmedabad–Palanpur and Ahmedabad–Samakhiali rail sections, as well as the doubling of the Sabarmati–Sarkhej railway line.
Amit Shah said that today, an engine with a 12,000-horsepower twin-section capacity has been commissioned, which can haul nearly as much freight as 600 trucks single-handedly. Earlier, two locomotives were required for this purpose, but now a single WAG-12 can perform the same task.
He said that this will mark an important milestone in the history of Indian Railways. Shri Shah said that a LNG-powered train has also been inaugurated today, which will make a significant contribution to environmental conservation in the years to come.
Shah said that after Shri Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, several new facilities were introduced in the railways and the railway network was modernised.
He said that the successful trial of the country’s first double-stack long-haul container train from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai, to Vadodara has been completed.
He said that the country has limited rail tracks for freight transportation, but if the concept of double-stack freight trains succeeds, the freight-carrying capacity will nearly double.
He said that an 11,000-kilometre-long corridor is now being converted into a four-lane network, which will significantly facilitate traffic movement towards Delhi–Howrah and Delhi–Guwahati.
