E-Paper
Railway line awaits inauguration
UNABLE TO get the confirmation of Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav?s itinerary till date, the zonal officers of North-Eastern Railway (NER) are preparing for the inauguration of the Kanpur-Farrukhabad broad gauge line conversion after May 15.
UNABLE TO get the confirmation of Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s itinerary till date, the zonal officers of North-Eastern Railway (NER) are preparing for the inauguration of the Kanpur-Farrukhabad broad gauge line conversion after May 15.
A senior NER official at Gorakhpur said that brochures were being prepared detailing about the project keeping in mind the inauguration date. He said the inauguration would be held after May 15, as the confirmation from the Railway Ministry has not yet reached. The confirmation generally reached a week before the inauguration.
As part of the preparation, senior engineers of the NER led by chief engineer Pancham and deputy chief engineer RB Yadav on Tuesday conducted a test run from Kanpur Central station to Farrukhabad at a speed of 95 km per hour.
However, the chief security commissioner had permitted a maximum speed of 70 km on the track. The senior engineers looked satisfied with the work done.
Pancham even termed the charges baseless that the work done was below the desired quality. He said Indian Railways had a transparent system and the vigilance department had been keeping an eye on the working.
According to the officials, the track conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge was done in a record time. Chief public relation officer NER Manoj Kumar Singh when contacted said that preparations were on for the inauguration of the new track. According to the NER officials, total cost incurred on the first phase of the Kanpur-Qasganj-Mathura-Bareilly-Lalkuan was approximately Rs 178 crore. In the first phase 139.22 km track was converted to broad gauge from Kanpur to Farrukhabad. The 139.22 km track has 248 big and small bridges of which six bridges are large ones. Besides Kanpur Central, there are 26 other stations till Farrukhabad.
According to officials, tracks have been fitted with advance signaling system known as Multiple Aspect Colour Lighting (MACL). The technology would enable automatic signals for the train passing through. Besides, there are about 145 level crossings, which include both manned and unmanned.