BENGALURU: Karnataka has been allocated Rs 7,559 crore for railway projects in the Union budget for 2024-2025, said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday.
Addressing a virtual news conference from New Delhi, he said the total outlay for Indian Railways in the budget was Rs 2.62 lakh crore, including Rs 1.09 lakh crore for safety-related activities.
South Western Railway General Manager Aravind Srivastav later told reporters that this was the highest budget allocation under working expenses for the zone. “There are 31 ongoing projects, running to a length of 3,480 km, and taken up at a cost of Rs 47,016 crore,” he said.
The zone aims at 100% electrification by March 2025, the GM said. “The electrification during 2009-2014 was an average of 18 km per year while the average electrification between 2014 and 2024 is 317 km, an increase by 18 times,” Srivastav said.
Similarly, the average new length during the last decade has increased significantly to 163 km, which represents an increase of 1.4 times compared to an average of 113 km per year from 2009 to 2014.
Srivastav said 46 railway stations were redeveloped under the Amrti Bharat Station scheme with world-class facilities at a cost of Rs 1,103 crore. “Yesvantpur station is being redeveloped at a cost of Rs 367 crore and has a tentative completion date of July 2025. Bengaluru Cantonment station is being developed at a cost of Rs 484 crore with October 2025 set as the completion date,” he said.
Elaborating on the achievements during the last decade, he said 638 Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges have been constructed across Karnataka.