Lucknow to get 170-km-long railway corridor
Lucknow will soon have a 170-km Orbital Railway Corridor to ease congestion and connect seven major routes, boosting regional rail operations.
After the 100-km-long outer ring road, another mega infrastructure project is in the offing for the state capital. This time, however, it won’t be a road but railway tracks stretching 170 kilometres.
The project—Lucknow Orbital Railway Corridor—was announced on Tuesday. To be built by Northern Railway’s (NR’s) Lucknow Division, its objective is to strengthen rail operations in the region. A detailed project report (DPR) for the Corridor will now be prepared.
Divisional railway manager S.M. Sharma said: “The main objective of the ambitious project is to reduce the congestion of rail traffic in Lucknow region and ensure smooth operation.
The construction work of this Corridor will be done under the rail boundaries on Lucknow-Kanpur section, Lucknow-Shahjahanpur-Moradabad section, Aishbagh-Daliganj-Sitapur City section, Lucknow-Barabanki-Gonda section, Lucknow-Barabanki-Ayodhya section, Lucknow-Sultanpur-Varanasi section and Lucknow-Raebareli-Varanasi section.”
Senior divisional operations manager, Rajneesh Srivastava said, “The survey approval of this ambitious project has been received. After the survey, a detailed project report (DPR) of the scheme will be prepared. After this, the project implementation will begin.”
The cost of the survey is estimated at ₹4.25 crore, an official said.
To link all 7 city lines
Kuldeep Tiwari, the senior divisional commercial manager of NR-Lucknow, said the city had seven main railway routes on which all passenger and freight trains operated, and the Corridor would connect all of them. “Rail traffic is disrupted due to heavy congestion on these routes. The region serves as the gateway for Northern Railway, North-Eastern Railway, and East-Central Railway, which increases the pressure of rail traffic here. It is known that Lucknow has a high number of trains running to Ayodhya, Varanasi, Kanpur, Moradabad, Sitapur, Rae Bareli, and Sultanpur. About 90% of freight trains and 70-80% of passenger trains pass through Lucknow’s Aishbagh station.”
Project Features
• 170-km-long railway corridor to be built around Lucknow
• All seven major routes to be connected by this orbital corridor
• The corridor will be connected through “Y” connections and pass over major routes through Rail-on-Rail bridges (ROR).
• A new “greenfield mega passenger terminal” to be developed. It will have more than 30 lines and 20 platforms.
• A mega rail logistics park to come up near the Agra Expressway
• It can save one hour for every train.