NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is planning to remove all manned crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral route within the next four years.
The move is part of the ministry’s 100-day roadmap. As part of the plan, the railways is planning to obtain the permission to remove a total of 2568 manned railway crossings along the Golden Quadrilateral route. The project is to be funded fully by the centre and is likely to cost Rs 50,000 crore.
According to railway officials, the manned crossings will be eliminated by either building Road Over Bridges (ROBs) or Road Under Bridges (RUBs).
“A proposal for the same is being readied and we will shortly seek approval for the same,” an official said.
“Indian Railways has proposed to sanction ROBs and RUBs in a single stage at the Central government level. Moreover, the national transporter also proposes to treat the ROBs and RUBs preferably as National Projects, advising the state governments to ensure the acquisition of 100 per cent land for this purpose,” the official said.
In its roadmap document, Indian Railways has stated that RUBs with water drainage system will be preferred as they are shorter in route and can be implemented faster. Also, RUBs require lower investments.
Additionally, Indian Railways plans to eliminate manned level crossings at other traffic-heavy sections as well.
Earlier this year, Indian Railways completed the process of elimination of all the unmanned level crossings. Foot Over Bridges were constructed by Indian Railways to cross the railway tracks.