MP urges Centre to take up doubling of Konkan Railway line

Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Member of Parliament Kota Srinivas Poojary on Wednesday urged the Union government to take up doubling of the Konkan Railway track between Mangaluru and Mumbai if there is a delay in the merger of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) with the Indian Railways.

Raising the matter under Rule 377 in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Poojary said that KRCL is facing dearth of funds to take up the track doubling project. On the other hand, its merger is getting delayed.

Kerala and Goa governments, shareholders in KRCL, have agreed for the merger. “I have information that Karnataka and Maharasthra governments, other shareholders, too have given their consent for the merger. Yet the merger is getting delayed coming in the way of developing Konkan railway route,” the MP said.

“Hence if there is delay in the merger, in the interest of passengers, the Union government should take up the doubling project on its own,” Mr. Poojary said adding that more number of trains can not be introduced on the Konkan Railway sector due to the single track.

Meanwhile, replying to an unstarred question by Mr. Poojary, Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the KRCL has taken up the work of preparing detailed project report (DPR) for the doubling of identified sections (approx 263 km) to increase the capacity of the Konkan route.

Of the 739-km Konkan Railway route, doubling of the Roha- Veer and Madgaon- Majorda sections (a total of about 55 km stretch) has already been completed. To increase the capacity of the remaining 685 km route, doubling is required. This requires substantial investment with the contribution from all the shareholding State governments, Mr. Vaishnaw said.

“Sanction of any railway project depends upon many parameters/factors. They are anticipated traffic projections and remunerativeness of the proposed route; first and last mile connectivity provided by the project; connection of missing links and providing additional route; augmentation of congested/saturated lines; demands raised by State governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives; railway’s operational requirements; socio-economic considerations and overall availability of funds,” the Minister said.

The KRCL was established in 1990 with five shareholders, namely, Ministry of Railways (66.35 %) Government of Maharashtra (15.11 %), Governments of Goa and Kerala (4.12 % each) and Government of Karnataka (10.30 %).

The Konkan Railway line extends from Roha in Maharashtra to Thokur in Karnataka, which passes through the difficult terrain of Western Ghats.