E-Paper
Proposed Karnal-Yamunanagar rail line financially unviable: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Nearly eight months after the approval from the Union railways ministry as claimed by the Haryana government, the proposed Karnal-Yamunanagar rail line project was found to be “financially unviable and not operationally justified”
Nearly eight months after the approval from the Union railways ministry as claimed by the Haryana government, the proposed Karnal-Yamunanagar rail line project was found to be “financially unviable and not operationally justified”.
“The detailed project report (DPR) for the Karnal-Yamuna Nagar via Assandh new line was submitted for seeking in-principle approval (IPA) for pre-investment activity from the railways. IPA was not granted as the project was not operationally justified and was financially unviable,” reads Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s reply in the Lok Sabha in response of an unstarred question of Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia regarding the status of works completed on the Karnal-Yamunanagar rail line.
As per the reply, the survey of Karnal-Yamunanagar via Assandh (103km) new line was carried out in 2015-16. As per the survey report, the project was found financially unviable and thus could not be taken forward.
Thereafter, this project was taken up for development by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (HRIDC), a joint venture company of the Haryana government (51%) and the Union ministry of railways (49%).
The Karnal MP could not be contacted for his reaction despite repeated attempts via calls and text messages.
For the past couple of years, the Haryana government was making efforts for rail connectivity between the industrial twin cities of Yamunanagar-Jagadhri and Karnal. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had kept a provision of laying railway lines between Karnal and Yamunanagar in his budget speech of 2020-21.
On July 27 last year, a statement was issued by the state government stating that the CM said the central government has approved the Karnal-Yamunanagar railway line to be built along the Western Yamuna canal after his meeting with Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi.
As per the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation, the existing rail route from Karnal to Yamunanagar is via Ambala Cantt which is around 121km, while the proposed route will be 61km and will connect with unserved regions of Indri, Ladwa and Radaur.
Karnal and Yamunanagar have linkage to major industrial zones in Haryana which will help moving the industrial goods and raw materials, the HRIDC had claimed in its project report.
